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TO 



P O P E 11 T. 



LX FIFE PARTS. 



%. A discovery of the most se- 
cret practices ofthe regular and 
and secular Romish priests, in 
their auricular confession. 

II. A true copy of the Pope's 
}%arly bull of iimulgences and 
pardons of sins, to ail those that 
seiVe in the war against the 
enemies of the Romish K.eligi- 
on. The explanation ofthe bull, 
v'-th some remarks upon it. 



III. An account of their mas- 
ses, privileged altars, transub- 
stantiation, and purgatory, and 
ofthe iTieans the priests make 
use of to delude the people. 

IV. Of the inquisitors, an^ 
their practices in several in- 
stances. 

V. Of their prayers, adoration 
of images, and relics, &c. 



BY D.ANTONIO GAVIN, 

lio! »i and educated in Spain, some years secular pnest in the 
church of Rome, and afterwards miiiister ofthe church of 
England. 



PilULADELriilA ; 



mUXTED FOR AM) SOLD BY THE BOOKSEULEKS, 

1816. 



x^^ 



% 



H& 



^ TO HER 

ROYJIL HIGHXESS 



THE 



PRINCESS OF WALES. 



Madam, 

JS in this Master- Key to Popery ^ I do 
write nothing but matters of fact ^ concerning the 
corruptions and secret practices of the Romish 
priests J f which I hope in God will pron)e useful to 
all true protestants ; nay, to the most bigotted Ro- 
mans^ if they %mll but read it impartially ) so, in 
this my humble dedication to your highness^ I do 
ad^oance nothing but what is plainly demonstrable; 
for your agreeableness and affability ^ your natural 
propensity to do good^ and your piety and zeal 
for the protestant religioiz, are known to the worlds 
better then the errors of the church of Rome ; for 
the first is liable to no dispute^ e^en amongst the 
Romans^ by whom the second ne^er was^ nor ever 
will be ownedy without a particidar influence of 
God^s grace. 



( ^ ) 

These ^ Madam y being matters of fact, together 
with your Highness'* readiness to promote and en- 
courage ivorks of this nature^ I do humbly pvt this 
edition and myself under your mighty protection ; 
that the book might safely go through all sorts and 
co?iditians of men ^ the author might be secured from 
the inhuman attempts of his implacable ene?nies^ 
and your Highness revoarded for this and other 
charitable ivorks^ by the eternal King, here and^ 
hereafter, ivhich shall be the continual wishes of4 
Madam ^ your Highness^ 

Most humble^ most obedient^ 

And most dcDoted sefvam^ 

ANTHONY GAVIN. 



PREFACE. 



WHEN I first designed to publish the following 
sheets, it was a matter of some {h)uljt with me, whe- 
ther or' no I should jnit u\y name to them; for if 
I did, I considered that I exposed myself to the ma- 
lice of a great body of men, who wouhJ endeavour 
on all occasions to injure me in my reputation and 
fortune, if not in my life; which last (to say no 
more) was no unnatural suspicion of a Spaniard, 
and one in my rasi^ to entertain of some fiery zea° 
lots of the church of Rome. 

But on the other hand, T foresaw, that if I con- 
cealed my name, a great part of the benefit, intend- 
ed to the public by this work, might be lost. For I 
have often observed, as to books of this kind, where 
facts only arc related, (the truth of which in the 
greatest measure must depend on the credit of the 
relater) that wherever the authors, out of caution or 
fear, have concealed themselves, the event common- 
ly has been, that even tlie friends to the cause 
W'hich the facts support, give but a cold assent to 
them, and the enemies reject them entirely, as ca- 
lumnies and forgeries, without ever giving them- 
selves the trouble of examining into the truth of 
that which the relater dares not openly avow.' On 
this account, wdiatever the consequences may be, I 
resolved to put my name to this, ahd accordingly 
did so to the first proposals which were made for 
printing it. 

a2 



vi PREFACE- 

But, by this means, I am at the same time ob- 
liged to say something in vindication of myself from 
several aspersions which I lie under, and which, in- 
deed, I have already in a great degree been a suf- 
ferer by, in the opinion of many worthy gentlemen. 
The first is, that I never was a priest, because I 
have not my letters of orders to produce. This, it 
must be confessed, is a testimonial, without which 
no one has a right, or can expect to be regarded as 
a person of that character; unless he has very con- 
vincing arguments to oiler the world, that in his 
circumstances, no sucli thing could reasonably be 
expected from him; and whether or no mine are 
such, I leave the world to judge. My case was this: 

As soon as it had pleased God by his grace to 
overcome in me the prejudices of my education, in 
favour of that corrupt church, in which I had been 
bred up, and to inspire me with a resolution to em- 
brace the protestant religion, I saw, that in order 
to preserve my life, I must immediately quit Spain, 
where all persons, who do not publicly profess the 
Romish religion, ai*e condemned to deatb. Upon 
this I resolved to lose no time in making my escape, 
but how to make it was a matter of the greatest 
difficulty and danger : however, I determined ratlier 
to hazard all events, than either to coiitinue in tliat 
church, or expose myself to certain death ; iun\ ac- 
cordingly made choice of disguises as tiie most piH>- 
bable method of favouring my escape. The first 1 made 
nse of was the habit of an officer in the army : and, as I 
was sure there would be strict inquhy and search made 
after me, I durst not bring along with me my letters 
of orders, which, upon my being suspected in any 
plac* for the person searched after, or on any other 
unhappy accident, would have been untlcniable evi- 
dence against me, and consequently would liave c^n- 
demned me to the inquisition. By this means I gat 
safely to London, where I was most civilly received 
by the late Eari Stanhope, to whom 1 had the honour 



PREFACE, vii 

fo be known when he was in Zaragossa* He told mc^ 
that there were some other new converts of ray nation 
in town, and that he hoped I would follow the com- 
mandment of Jesus to Peter, viz. '' Wlien thou art 
converted, strengthen thy brethren/^ 

Upon this I went to the late Lord Bishop of Lon- 
don, and by his lordship's order, his domestic chap- 
lain examined me three days together ^ and as I could 
not produce the letters of orders, he advised me to get 
a certificate from my Lord St?aihope, that he knew 
me, and that I was a priest, which I obtained on the 
very same day; and upon this certificate, liis lordship 
received my recantation after morning prayers, in his 
chapel of Somerset house, aiid licensed me to preach 
and officiate in a Spanish congregation composed of my 
lord Stanhope, several English ofiicers, and a few Spa- 
nish officers, new converts. My first sermon I had 
the honour to dedicate to my lord Stanhope, and was 
printed by Mr. William Bowyer, and was sold after- 
wards, by Mr. Dcnoyer, a French bookseller, at 
Erasmus' head, in tiie Strand. By virtue of this li- 
cense, I preached two years and eight months, first in 
i\i^^ ehap? 1 of Queen's-square, Westminster, and after- 
wards in Oxenden's chapel, near t!ie hay-market. But 
my benefactor, desirous to settle me in the English 
church, advised me to go chaplain to the Preston man 
of war, where 1 might liave a great deal of leisure to 
learn tlie language ; and being presented and approv- 
ed by the Bisliop of London, the lords of t!ie Admiral- 
ty granted me the warrant or commission of chaplain. 
Then his lordship, though he had given me his con- 
sent in writing, to preach in Spanisli, did enlarge it in 
the warrant of the Admiralty, which license \ sliall 
take leave to insert here at large. 

^' Wliereas tlie Reverend Mr. Anthony Gavin was 
recommended to me, by the right honourable lord 
Stanhope; and by the same, and other English gentle- 
men, I was certified tirat the said Reverend Mr. Giavin 



viii PREFACE. 

was a secular priest, anil master of arts, in tiic ixhi 
versify of the city of Zaragossa, in the kin^^dom oi 
Arragoii, in Spain, and that they knew him in the said 
city, and conversed with him several times: tliis is to 
certify, tliat the said Reverend Mr. Gavin, after hav- 
ing publicly and solemnly abjured the errors of the 
Romish religion ; and being tiiereupon by me reconci- 
led to the church of England, on the 3d day of Janu- 
ary, 1715-16: he had then my leave to officiate, in the 
Spanish language, in the chapel of Queen's-square* 
Westminster; and now being appointed chaplain of his 
majesty's siiip, the Preston, has my licence to preach 
in English, and to administer the sacraments, at home 
and abroad, in all the churclies and chapels of my di- 
ocess. Given under my hand, in London, the 13th of 
July, 17 W. 

Signed, JOHN, LONDON/^ 

The certificate, license, and warrant, may be seen 
at any time, for I have them by me. 

After that, the ship being i)ut out of commission, 
and my lord Stanhope being in Hanover with the king, 
I came over to Ireland on the importunity of a friend, 
with a design to stay here till my lord's return into 
England: But when I was thinking of going over 
again, I heard of my lord's death, and having in him 
lost my best patron, I resolved to try in this kingdom, 
whether I could find any settlement : and in a few days 
after, by the favour of his grace my lord archbishop of 
Cashel, and the Reverend Dean Percival, I got the 
curacy of Gowran, which I served almost eleven 
months, by the license of my lord bishop of Ossory, 
who afterwards, upon my going to Cork, gave me his 
letters dismissiory. 

I was in Cork very near a year, serving the cure of 
a parish near it, and the Rev. Dean Maule being at 
that time in London, and I being recommended to him, 
to preach in his parish church of Shandon, he went to 
Inquire about me to the bishop of London, who, and 9€- 



PREFACE. fx 

A^^Fal other persons of disthiction, were pleased to give 
me a good character, as tlic dean, on my leaving him, 
did me the favour to certily under his hand, together 
with my good behaviour durisig my stay in Cork. 

Now my case being such as I h.ave re})resented it, I 
freely submit it to the judgment of every gentleman of 
ingenuity and candour, to determine, whether it could 
ho expected from me, that 1 should have my letters of 
orders to shew; and yet whether there can be any tole- 
rable reason to suspect my not having been a priest. 
I think it might be enough to silence all suspicions on 
this account, that I was received as a priest into the 
church of England, and licensed as such, to preach and 
administer the sacraments both in that kingdom and 
this : and I hope no one can imagine, that any of the 
bishops of tiie best constituted and governed churches 
upon earth, would admit any person to so sacred a 
trust, without their being fully satisfied that he was in 
orders. 

I shall, on this occasion, beg leave to mention what 
the bishop of London said to me, when I told him I 
had not my letters of orders, but that my lord Stan- 
hope, and other gentlemen of honour and credit, who 
knew me in my native city of Zaragossa, would certi- 
fy, that I there was esteemed and officiated as a priest. 
Bring such a certificate, said he, and I will receive and 
license you ; for I would rather depend upon it, than 
any letters of orders you could produce, which, for 
ought I could tell, you might have forged. 

i hope what I have here said may convince even my 
enemies of my being a clergyman : and how 1 have 
behaved myself as such, since I came into this king- 
dom, I appeal to those gentlemen I conversed with in 
Gowran, Gortroe, and Cork, and for this last year 
and an half, to the officers of Col. Barrel, Brigadier 
Napper, Col. Hawley, Col. Newton, and Col. Lanoe's 
regiments, who, I am sure, will do me justice, and I 
desire no more of them ; and upon an inquiry into my 
beiiaviour, I flatter myself, that the public will not 



X PREFACE. 

lightly give credit to the ill reports spread abroad, 
by my enemies. 

Another objectify raised against me is, that I have 
])erjured myself in Mscovering the private confessions 
which were made to me. In one point indeed they 
may call me perjured, and it is my comfort and glory, 
that I am so in it, viz. That I have broke the oath I 
took, when I was ordained priest, which was to liv^e 
and die in the Roman Catholic faith. But as to tlie 
other perjury charged upon me, they lie under a mis- 
take; for there is no oath of secrecy at all administer- 
ed to confessors, as most protestants imagine. Secre- 
sy indeed is recommended to all confessors by the 
casuists, and enjoined by the councils and popes so 
strictly, that if a confessor reveals, except in some 
particular cases, what is confessed to him, so as the 
penitent is discovered, he is to be punished for it in 
the inquisition ; which, it must be fawned, is a more ef- 
fectual way of enjoining sccresy than oaths them- 
selves. 

However, I am far from imagining, that because in 
this case I have broken no oath, I should therefore be 
guilty of no crime, tiiough I revealed every tiding 
which was committed to my trust as a confessor, of 
whatever ill consequence it might be to the penitent; 
no, such a jn^actice I take t^, be exceedingly ci'iminal, 
and 1 do from my soul abiKtr it. 

But nevertheless there :*re cases v>iier^^>- by llie con- 
stitution of the chiircli of Rome itself, the most danger- 
ous secrets may and ought to be revealed; such as those 
which are called reserved cases^ of Vv hich there are ma- 
ny ; some reserved ta the pope himself, as heresy; some 
to his apostolic comnYissary or his deputy, as incest m 
the first degree : some to the bishop of the diocess, as 
the setting a neighbour's house on fire. Now in such 
cases thu confessor cannot aiisolve Uie penitent, and 
therefore he is obliged to reveal tlie confession to the 
person, to whom the absolution of that sin is reserved^ 
though indeed he never mentions the penitent's namci 
Qr any circumstance by ^vhich he may be discoverer}. 



PREFACE- xi 

Again, there are other cases, such as a conspiracy 
against the life of the prince^ or, a iraiterous design to 
overturn the government, which the confessor is obliged 
in conscience, and for the safety of the public, to reveal. 

But besides all these, whenever the penitent's case 
happens to have any thing of an uncommon difficulty 
in it, common prudence, and a due regard to the faith- 
ful discJiarge of his office, will oblige a confessor to 
discover it to men of experience and judgment in casu- 
istry, that he may have their advice how to proceed in 
it: and this is what confessors in Spain not only may 
do, but are bound by the word of a priest to do, 
wherever they have an opportunity of consulting a 
college of confessors, or (as it is commonly called) a 
moral academy. 

I believe it may be of some service on the present 
occasion, to inform my readers what those moral aca- 
demies are; which are to be met with through Spain, 
in every city and town, where there is a number of 
secular and regular priests: but I shall speak only of 
those in the city of Zaragossa, as being the most per- 
fectly acquainted with them. 

A moral academy is a college or assembly consist- 
ing of several father confessors, in which each of them 
proposes some moral case which has happened to him 
in confession, with an exact and particular account of 
the confession, without mentioning the penitent's name: 
and the proponent having done this, every member is 
to deliver his opinion upon it. This is constantly 
practised every Friday, from two o'clock in the after- 
noon, till six, and sometimes till eight, as the cases 
proposed happen to be more or less difficult. But when 
there is an extraordinary intricate case to be resolved, 
and the members cannot agree in the resolution of it, 
they send one of their assembly to the great aca- 
demy, which is a college composed of sixteen casuis- 
tical doctors, and four professors of divinity, the most 
learned and experienced in moral cases that may be 
had ; and by them the case in debate is resolved, and 



xii PREFACE. 

the resolution of it entered in the books of the academy 
by tlie consent of the president and members. 

Tlie academy of tlie holy trinity, founded, and very 
nobly endowed by Archbishop Gamboa, is one of the 
most famous in tiie city of Zaragossa ; and of it I was 
a member for three years, I was very young and un- 
expert in cases of conscience, when I was first licens- 
ed to be a confessor; for the pope having dispensed 
with 13 months of the time required by the canons for 
tiie age of a prkst (for which I paid 60 pistoles) I was 
ordained before I was 23 years old, by Don Antonio 
Ibannez de la Rivia de Herrera, archbishop of Zara- 
gossa and viceroy of Arragon; and at tlie same time 
licensed by him to hear confessions of both sexes. In 
order then the better and more speedily to qualify my- 
self for the oflice, I thought it my prudentest way to 
apply, as so(m as possible, to be admitted into this 
learned society, and as it happened, 1 had interest 
enough to succeed. 

Now among many statutes left by the founder to this 
academy, one is this, viz. That every person, who is 
Ciiosen a member of it, is, on his admission, to promise 
upon the word of a priest, to give the whole assembly 
a faithful account of all the private confessions he has 
heard the week before, which have any thing in tliem 
difficult to be resolved; yet so as not to mention any 
circumstance t)y which the penitents may be known. 

And for this end there is a book, where the secreta- 
ry enters all the cases proposed and resolved every 
Friday ; and every third year there is, by the consent 
of the president and members of tlie academy, and by 
the approbation of the great one^ a book printed, con- 
taining all the cases r. solved for three years before, 
and which is entitled, Compendium Casuum Mondiuin 
JlcademiiEf S. S. Tnniiatis. The academy of the holy 
trinity is always composed of twenty members, so tliat 
every one may easily perceive, that each of the mem- 
bers may be acquainted in a year or two, with niany 
hundreds of private confessions of all ranks and condi- 



PREFACE. xiii 

tioiis of people, besides those wliich were made to them- 
selves : which remark I only make by tlie by to sa- 
tisfy some men, who, 1 am told, find fault with me for 
pretending; to impose on the public for genuine, se- 
veral confessions which were not made to myself, and 
consequently for the reality of wliich, I can have no 
sufficient authority. 

Now after all that has been said on this head, I be« 
lieve 1 need not be at much trouble to vindicate my- 
self from the imputation of any criminal breach of se- 
cresy ; for if the reader observes, that on the forego- 
ing grounds, there is no confession whatever which 
may not lawfully be revealed (provided the confessor- 
doth not discover the penitent) he cannot in justice 
condemn me for publishing a few, by which it is mo- 
rally impossible, in the present circumstances, that tlie 
penitents should be known. Had I been much more 
particular than I am in my relations, and mentioned 
even the names and' every thing else I knew of the 
persons, there W'ould scarce be a possibility (consider- 
ing the distance and little intercourse there is between 
this place and Zaragossa) of their suffering in any de- 
gree by it : and I need not observe tliat the chief, and 
indeed only reason of enjoining and keeping secresy; 
is the hazards the penitent may run by a discovery, 
but I do assure the reader^ that in every'^confession I 
have related, 1 have made use of feigned names, and 
avoided every circumstance by which I had the least 
cause to suspect the parties might be found out. And 
I assure him further, that most of the cases here pub- 
lished by me, arc, in their most material points, alrea- 
dy printed in the Gompendiums of that moral acade- 
my of w hich I was a member. 

As for the reasons which moved me to publish this 
book, I shall only say, that as the corrupt practices, 
w^hich are the subject of it, first set me upon examining 
into the principles of the church of Home, and by that 
means of renouncing them ; so I thouglit that the mak- 

B 



xiv PREFACE. 

ing of them public might happily produce the same 
effect in some others. 

I did design on this occasion to give a particular ac- 
count of the motives of my conversion, and leaving 
Spain ; but being confined to 300 pages, I must leave 
that and some other tilings relating to the sacraments 
of the church of Rome, to a second part, which I intend 
to print, if the public thinks fit to encourage me. 

1 must beg the reader's pardon for my presuniption 
in writing in his own language, on so short an acquain- 
tance as 1 have with it. I hope lie will excuse the ma- 
ny mistakes I may have committed in the book : I shall 
he v<"ry well pleased to be told of, and I shall take the 
greater care to avoid them in the second part. 



A 

MASTER-KEY 

TO 

POPERY. 



PART I. 

Of the Roman Catholic^s Auricular Confession. 

AURICULAR confession being one of the five com- 
inandnients of the Roman catholic church, and a 
condition necessarily required in one of their sacra- 
ments; and being too an article that will contribute 
very much to the discovery of many other errors of 
that communion, it may be proper to make use of the 
Master-Key, and begin with it : and first of all, with 
the Father Confessors who are the only key-keepers 
of it. 

Though a priest cannot be licens'd by the ca^nons of 
their church, to hear men's confessions, till he is thir- 
ty years, nor to confess women, till forty years of age, 
yet ordinarily he gets a dispensation from the bishop, 
to whom his probity, secrecy, and sober conversation 
are represented by one of the diocesan ^examinators, 
his friend, or by some person of interest with his lord- 
ship; and by that means he gets a confessor's license, 



* Those that are appointed by the bishop, to examine those 
that are to be ordained, or licensed to preach, and hear feon- 
fbssions. 



16 A MASTER-KEY 

most commonly, the clay lie gets his letters of orders., 
vix>. Some at thi*ee and twenty, and some at four and 
twenty years of age, not only for men, but for women's 
confessions also. I say, some at three and twenty; for 
the pope dispenseth wit!i thirteen montlis, to those that 
jvay a sum of money ; of which I shall speak in ano- 
ther place. 

To priests thus licensed to he judges of the tribunal 
of conscience, men and women do discover their sins, 
their actions, their thoughts, nay, their very dreams^ 
if they happen to he impure. I say, judges of the tri- 
bunal of conscience; for when they are licensed, they 
ought to resolve any case (let it be never so hiird) pro- 
posed by the penitent: and by this meai^s it must of- 
ten happen, that a young man who, perhaps, doth not 
fcnow more tlian a few definitions (which he hath learn- 
ed in a little manual of some casuistical authors) of 
v/bat is sin, shall sit in such a tribunal, to judge, in 
the most intricate cases, the consciences of men, and of 
men too that maybe his masters. 

I saw a reverend father ^ who had been eight and 
twenty years professor of divinity in one of tlie most 
considerable f universities of Spain, and one of the 
most fiimous men for his learning, in that religion, 
kneel down before a young :j: priest of twenty-four 
years of age, and confess his sins to him. Wiio would 

* Fr. James Garcia. 

•j" The university of Zaragossa, in the kingdom of Arragoiu 
in Spain, which according to their historians, was built b^ 
Sertorius. 

t The thing happened to me, when I was 24 years of age* 



TO POPERY. ±7 

i]f>t be surprised at them both? A man fit to be the 
jinlge to act the part of a criminal before an ignorant 
judge, who, I am sure, could scarcely then tell the ti- 
tles of the SummcB Mjrales. 

Nay, the pope, notwithstanding all his infallibility, 
doth kneel down before his confessor, tells him his sins, 
hcareth bis correction, and receives and performs what- 
ever penance he imposeth upon him. This is the only 
difference between the pope's confessor, and the con- 
fessors of kings and other persons, that all confessors 
sit down to hear kings and other persons, but the pope's 
confessor kneels dow^n himself to hear the holy father. 
What, the holy one upon earth humble himself as a 
sinner ? Holiness and sin in one and the same subject^ 
is a plain contradiction in terms. 

If we ask the Roman Catholics, why so learned men, 
and the pope, do so? They will answer, that they dc 
it out of reverence to such a sacrament, out of humili- 
ty, and to give a token and testimony of tlieir hearty 
sorrow for their sins. And as for the pope, they say 
he doth it to shew an example of humility, as Jesus 
Christ did, wiien he washed the apostle's feet. 

This answer is true, but they do not say the w^hole 
truth in it j for, besides the aforesaid reasons, they 
have another, as Molina tells them, ^ vi%. That the pe- 
nitent ought to submit entirely to his confessor's cor- 
rection, advice and penance; and he excepts no body 
from this necessary requisite of a true penitent. Who 

* In his Moral, Sum?n. Chap. XVIII. of the^ requisites of 
a true penitent. 

B 2 



IS A MASTER-KEY 

would not be surprised (I say again) tliat a man of no- 
ted learning would submit himself to a young, unexpe- 
rienced priest, as to a judge of his conscience, take his 
advice, and receive his correction and penance ? 

What would a Roman Catholic say, if he should see 
one of our learned bishops go to the college to consult 
a young collegian in a nice point of divinity ; nay, to 
take his advice, and submit to his opinion ? Really the 
Romans would heartily laugh at him, and with a great 
deal of reason ; nay, he could say, that his lordship 
was not right in his senses. What then can a protestant 
say of those infatuated learned men of the church of 
Rome, when they do more than what is here supposed ? 

As for the pope (I say) it is a damnable opinion to 
compare him in this case, with our Saviour Jesus; for 
Christ knew not sin, but gave us an example of humi- 
lity and patience, obedience and poverty. He did wash 
the apostle^s feet ; and though we cannot know by the 
scripture, whether he did kneel down or not to wash 
them: supposing that he did, he did it only out of a trite 
humility, and not to confess his sins. But the pope dotS 
kneel down, not to give an example of humility, and pa- 
tience, but really to confess his sins : not to give an 
example of obedience ; for, being supreme pontifex, he 
obeys nobody, and assumes a command over the whole 
world; nor of poverty ; for pope and necessity dwell 
far from one anothej:*. And if some ignorant Roman 
Catholic should say, that the pope, as pope, has no sin, 
\ye may prove the contrary with Cipriano de Valera,* 

* The lives of the popes, and tiiQ sacrifice of Mass, 



TO POPERY. 19 

who gives an account of all the bastards of several 
popes for many years past. The pope's bastards, in 
Latin, are called nepotes. Now mind, reader, this 
common saying in Latin, among the Roman Catholics: 
Solent clerecijilios suos vocare sohnnos met nejmtcs: That 
is, The priests used to call their own sons cousins or 
nephews. And when we give these instances to some 
of their learned men (as I did to one in London) tliey 
say, dngelorum estpeccare^ hommumqiie penitere; L e. It 
belongs to angels to sin, and to men to repent. By 
this they acknowledge that the pope is a sinner, and 
nevertheless they call him his lioliness, and the most 
holy father. 

Who then would not be surprised to see the most 
holy Jesus Christ's vicar on earth, and the infallible 
in whatever he says, submit himself to confess 
his sins to a man, and a man too that has no other 
power to correct him, to advise and impose a penance 
upon the most holy one, tiian what his holiness has 
been pleased to grant him? Every body indeed that has 
a grain of sense of religion, and reflects seriously on it* 

I come now to their auricular confession, and of the 
ways and methods theylpractice and observe in con- 
fessing their sins. There are among them two ranks 
of people, learned and unlearned. The learned confess 
by these three general heads, tliought, word and deed, 
reducing into them all sorts of sins. The unlearned 
confess by the ten commandments, discovering by them 
all the mortal sin^ which tliey have committed since 
their last confession. 1 say mortal sins; for as to the 
venial sins^ or sins of a small matter, the opinion o£ 



26 A MASTER-KEY 

their casuistical authors* is, they are washed away hj 
the sign of the cross, or by sprinlding the face with 
the holy water. To the discovery of the mortal sins 
the father confessor doth very much help the penitent ; 
for he sometimes out of pure zeal, hut most commonly 
out of curiosity, asks them many questions to know 
whether they do remember all their sins, or not ? By 
these and the like questions, the confessors do more 
mischief than good, especially to the ignorant people 
and young women ; for perliaps they do not know, 
what simple fornication is ? what voluntary or involun- 
tary pollution ? what impure desire? what sinful mo- 
tion of our hearts? what relapse, reincidence, or reit- 
eration of sins ? and the like ; and then by the confes- 
sor's indiscreet questions, the penitents do learn things 
of which tliey never had dreamed before ; and when 
they come to that tribunal with a sincere, ignorant 
heart, to receive advice and instruction, they go home 
w ith light, knowledge, and an idea of sins unknown to 
them before. 

I said, that the confessors do ask questions, most 
commonly out of curiosity, though they are warned 
by the casuistical authors to be prudent, discreet, and 
very cautious in the questions they ask, especially i^ 
the penitent be a young w^oman, or an ignorant; for 



^Perez^ Irribarren and 5a/fl!zar, in his Conipond. Moral* 
Sect. 12. de vitiis \Sf fieccatis^ gives a catalogue of the venial 
sins, and says, among others, that to eat flesh in a day prohi- 
bited by the church, without minding it, was so. To kill a man 
throwing a stone through the window, or being drunk, or in the 
first motion of his passion, are venial sins, 6cc. 



TO POPERY. 21 

«f? I*ineda sajs,* '^ It is better to let tliem go ignorant 
than instructed in new sins/' But contrary to this 
good maxiai, they are so indiscreet in this point, that 
I saw in the city of Lisbon in Portugal a girl of ten 
years of age, coming from church, ask her mother 
what deflouring was ? For the fatlier confessor had 
asked her wlvethcr she was dcHoured or not? And the 
mother, more discreet than the confessor, told the girl 
that the meaning was, whether she took deliglit in 
smelling flowers or not ? and so she stopped her child's 
curiosity. But of this and many other indiscretions I 
shall speak more particularly by and by. 

Now observe, that as a penitent cannot hide any 
tiling from the spiritual judge, else he would make a 
sacrilegious confession ; so I cannot hide any thing 
from tlie public which is to be my hearer, and the tem- 
poral judge of my work, else I should betray my con- 
science : therefore (to the best of my memory, and as 
one that expects to be called before the dreadful tribu- 
nal of God, on account of what I do now write and 
say, if I do not say and write the truth from the bottom 
of my heart) I shall give a faithful, plain account of 
the Roman's auricular confession, and of the most 
usual questions and answers betw^een the confessors 
and penitents ; and this I shall do in so plain a style 
that every body may go along with me. 

And first of all it is very proper to give an account 
of what the penitents do, from the time they come into 
the church, till they begin their confession. When the 
penitent comes into the church, he takes holy water, 

* Tract, de Perjit. Sect, 1. sect, vii. 



22 A MASTER-KEY 

and sprinkles his face, and making tlie sign of the 
cross, says, per signum crucis de inimicis nostris libera 
nos Deiis noster: In nomine Patris et Filiij et Spintns 
Sancti. Amen. i. e. By the sign of the cross deliver 
ns our God from our enemies, in the name of the Fa- 
ther, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen* 
Then the penitent goes on, and kneels down hefore the 
great altar, where the great Host (of which I shall 
speak in another place) is kept in a neat and rich ta- 
bernacle, v»itii a brass or silver lamp hanging before 
it, and burning continually night and day. Tliere he 
makes a prayer, first to the holy sacrament of the al- 
tar (as they call it) after to the virgin Maiy, and to 
the titular saints of the church. Then he turns about 
upon his knees, and visits five altars, or if there is but 
one altar in the church, five times that altar, and says 
before each of them five times, Pater noster ^ ^x. and five 
times Ave Maria^ ^x. with Gloria Patria, Sfc. 

Then he riseth, and goes to the confession ary, i. e. 
The confessing place, where the confessor sits in a 
chair like our hackney chairs, which is most common- 
ly placed in some of the chapels, and in the darkest 
]place of the church. The chairs, generally speaking, 
liave an iron grate at each side, but none at all before ; 
and some days of devotion, or on a great festival, there 
is such a crowd of people, that you may see three pen- 
itents at once about the chair, one at each grate, and 
the other at the door, though only one confesseth at a 
time, whispering in the confessor's ear, that the others 
should not hear what he says; and when one has done, 
the other begins, and so on: but most commonly they 



TO POPERY. 23 

confess at the door of the chair one after another ; for 
thus, the confessor has an opportunity of knowing the 
penitent: and though many gentlewomen, either out 
of baslifulness, or sliame, or modesty, do endeavour to 
hide their faces with a fan, or veil, notwithstanding all 
this they are known by the confessor, who, if curious, 
by crafty questions brings them to tell him their names 
and houses, and this in the very act of confession ; or 
else he examines their faces when ihe confession is over, 
whilst the penitents are kissing his hand or sleeve; and 
if he cannot know tliem this way, he goes himself to 
give the sacrament, and then every one being obliged 
to shew his face, is known by the curious confessor, 
who doth this not without a private view and design, 
as will appear at the end of some private confessions. 

The penitent then kneeling, bows himself to the 
ground before the confessor, and makes again the sign 
of the cross in the aforesaid form j and having in his 
hand the beads, or rosary of the virgin Mary, begins^ 
tlie general confession of sins, which some say in La- 
tin, and some in the vulgar tongue; therefore it seems 
proper to give a copy of it both in Latin and English. 

Coiifiteor Beo Omnipotenti ; beatce^ Marice semper Vir- 
ginia beato Michaeli Archangelo^ beato Joanni BaptistcBf 
Sanctis apostolis PetrOf et Faulo^ omnibus sancHs^ et tibi^ 
Pater; quia peccavi nimis cogitatione^ verbo^ et opere^ 
viea citlpa^ mea culpa, mea maxima culpa: Ideoprecor 
beatam Mariam semper Vii-ginem^ beatem Michaelem 
JlrcJiangelum, beatum Joannem Baptistam^ sanctos apas- 
tolos Petnun et Fauluni^ omnes sanctos et te^ Pater j orcl- 
re pro me ad Doniinnm Deum tiostruau Amen* 



^ A MASTER-KEY 

J do confess to God Almighty, to the blessed Mary, 
always a virgin, to the blessed archangel Michael, to 
the blessed John Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter 
and Paul, to all the saints, and to thee, O father, that 
I have too much sinned by thought, word, and deed, 
by my fault, by my fault, by my greatest fault : there- 
fore I beseech the blessed Mary, always a virgin, the 
blessed archangel Michael, the blessed John Baptist, 
the holy apostles Peter and Paul, all the saints, and 
thee, Father, to pray God our Lord for me. Amen. 

This done, the penitent raises him from his prosti'a- 
tion to his knees, and touching with his lip, either the 
ear or the cheek of the spiritual father, begins to dis- 
cover his sins by the ten commandments : and here it 
may be necessary to give a translation of their ten 
commandments, word for word. 

The commandments of the law of God are ten : the 
three first do pertain to the honour of God; and the 
other seven to the benefit of our neighbour. 

I. Thou shalt love God above all things, 
II. Thou shalt not swear. 

III. Thou shalt sanctify the holy days. 

IV. Thou shalt honour father and mother. 
V. Thou shalt not kill. 

VI. Thou slialt not commit fornication. 
VII. Thou shalt not steaL 
VIII, Tliou shalt not bear false witness, nor lie. 
IX. Thou slialt not covet thy neighbour's wife. 
X. Tliou shalt not covet the things which are 
another's. 



TO POPERY. 25 

These ten commandments arc comprised in two; viz. 
to serve and love God, and thy neighbour as thyself. 
Amen. 

Now, not to forget any thing that may instruct the 
public, it is to the purpose to give an account of the 
little cliildrens' confessions : I mean of those that have 
not yet attained the seventh year of their age: for at 
seven they begin most commonly to receive the sacra- 
ment, and confess in private with all the formalities of 
their church. 

There is in every city, in every parish, in every town 
and village, a Lent preacher ; and there is but one dif- 
ference among them, viz. that some preachers do preach 
every day in Lent, some three sermons a week ; some 
two, viz. on Wednesdays and Sundays, and some 
only on Sundays, and the holidays that happen to fall 
in Lent. The preacher of the parish pitches upon one 
day of the week, most commonly, in the middle of 
Lent, to hear the children's confessions, and gives no- 
tice to the congregation the Sunday before, that every 
father of a family, may send his children, both boys 
and girls, to church, on the day appointed, in the after- 
noon. The mothers dress their children the best they 
can that day, and give them the offering money for 
the expiation of their sins. That afternoon is a holi- 
day in the parish, not by precept, but by custom, for 
no parishioner, either old or young, man or woman, 
misseth to go and hear the childrens' confessions. Fop 
it is reckoned, among t!iem, a greater diversion than 
a comedy, as you may judge by the following account. 

Tlie day appointed, the children repair to church at 
three of the clock, where the preacher is waiting for 



m A MASTER-KEY 

them witli a long reed in his hand; and when all ai*e 
together, (sometimes 150 in niimhcr, and sometimes 
less) the reverend father placeth them in a circle round 
himself, and then kneeling down (the children also do- 
ing the same) makes the sign of the cross, and says a 
short prayer. This done, he exhorteth the children 
to hide no sin from him, hut to tell him all they have 
committed* Tlien lie strikes, ^vith the reed, the cin'ld 
whom he designs to confess the first, and asks him th€ 
following questions. 

Confessor. How long is it since you last confessed ? 

Boy. Father, a whole year, or the last Lent. 

Catif. And how many sins have you committed from 
that time till now? 

Boy. Two dozen. 

Now the confessor asks round ahout. 

Conf. And you ? 

Boy. A thousand and ten. 

Another will say a hag full of small lies, and ten big 
sins ; and so one after another answers, and tells ma- 
ny childish things. 

Conf. But pray, you sjiy, that you have committed 
ten big sins, tell me how big? 

Boy. As big as a tree. 

Conf. But tell me the sins. 

Boy. There is one sin I committed, which I dare not 
tell your reverence before all the people ; for somebody 
here present will kill me, if he heareth me. 

Conf. Well, come out of the circle, and tell it nie. 

They both go out, and with a low voice he tells 
him, that such a day he stole a nest of sparrows from 



TO POPERY 27 

a tree of another boy's, and tliat if he knew it, he 
would kill him. Then both came again into the circle, 
and the father asks other boys and girls so many ridi- 
culous questions, and the children answer him so many 
pleasant, innocent things, that the congregation laughs 
all the while. One will say, that his sins are red, ano- 
ther that one of iiis sins is white, one black, and one 
green, and in these triflings questions they spend two 
hours time. When the congregation is weary of laugh- 
ing, the confessor gives the children a correction, and 
bids them not to sin any more, for a black boy takes 
along with him the wicked children : Then he asks the 
offering, and after he lias got all from them, gives them 
the penance for their sins. To one he says, I give you 
for penance, to eat a sweet cake, to another, not to go 
to school the day following ; to another, to desire his 
mother to buy him a new hat, and such things as thesc5 
and pronouncing the words of absolution, he dismissetli 
the congregation with Amcii, so be it, every year. 

These are the first foundations of the Romish religi- 
on for youth. Now reader ! you may make reflec- 
tions upon it, and the more you will reflect, so much 
the more you will hate the corruptions of that commu- 
nion, and it shall evidently appear to you, that the se- 
rious religious instruction of our ciiurch, as to the 
youth, is reasonable, solid, and without reproach. • 
that all protestants would remember tlie rules they 
learned from their teachers in their youth, and prac- 
tise them while they live! Sure I am, they should be 
like angels on earth, and blessed for ever after death 
in heaven. 



28 A MASTER-KEY 

From fteveii till fifteen, there is no extraordinary 
tiling to say of young people, only that from seven 
years of age, they begin to confess in private, and re- 
eeive the sacrament in public. The confessors have 
very little trouble veith such young people, and likewise 
little profit, except with a piiellay who sometimes be- 
gins at twelve years the course of a lewd life, and 
then tlie confessor finds business and profit enough, 
when she comes to confess. Now I come to give an ac- 
count of several private confessions of both sexes, be- 
ginning from people of fifteen years of age. The con- 
fession is a dialogue between the spiritual fatlicr and 
the penitent ; therefore I shall deliver the confessions 
in a way of dialogue* The letter C signifies confessor, 
and several other letters the names of the penitents. 

The confession of a young xvoman in Zaragossa^whom 
I shall call Mary. Jnd this I set down chiefly to shew 
the common form of their confessing penitents : The 
thing rv as not puhlic; and therefore I give it under 
a supposed name. 

Confessor. How long is it since you last confessed ? 

Mary. It is two years and two months. 

Conf. Pray, do you know the commandments pf 
our holy mother the church ? 

Mary. Yea, father. 

Conf. Rehearse them. 

Mary. The commandments of our holy motlier, the 
church, are five. I. To hear mass on Sundays and 
holy-days. II. To confess, at least once in a year, and 
oftener, if there be danger of death. Ill, To receive 



TO POPE III. i^y 

tlie eiiclmrist. IV- To fast. V. To pay tithes and 
^FrimitiaJ'^ 

Cmif. Now rehearse the seven sacraments. 

Mary. The sacraments of the Ifoly mother, the 
cliurch, are seven. J. Baptism. 11. Confirmation. 
III. Penance. IV. The Lord's supper. V. Extreme 
unction. VI. Holy orders. VII. Matrimony. e(Z;ueii. 

Conf. You see in the second commandment of the 
church, and in the third among the sacraments, that 
you are obliged to confess every year. Wliy, then, 
have you neglected so much longer a time to fulfil the 
precept of our holy mother ? 

Marij. jis I am yomig and a great sinner, I was 
ashamed reverend father, to confess my sins to the 
priest of our parish, for fear, he should know me by 
some passages of my life, which would be prejudicial 
to me, and to several other persons related to my fa- 
mily. 

Coiif. But you know that it is the indispensable du- 
ty of the minister of the parish to expose in the church, 
after Easter, all those wdio have not confessed, nor re- 
ceived the sacrament before that time. 

Mary. I do know it very well ; but I went out of the 
city towards the middle of Lent, and I did not come 
back again till after Easter ; and when I was 
asked in the country, whether 1 had confessed that 
Lent or not ? I said, that I had done it in the city: and 
when the minister of the parish did ask me the same 

* Primitiais to pay, besides the tenth, one thirtieth part 
of the fruits of the earth, towards the repair of the church- 
vestments, dec. 

B 2 



30 A MASTER-KEY 

question, Itoh! him, that I had done it in the country: 
so with this lie, [ freed myself from the pahlic censure 
of the church. 

Conf. And did you perform the last penance impos- 
ed upon you? 

Mary. Yea, Father, but not with that exactness I 
was commanded. 

Conf. What was th^ penance ? 

Mary. To fast three days upon bread and w^ater, 
and to give ten reals of plate, ^ and to say five mass- 
es for the souls in purgatory. I did perform the first 
part, but not the second, because I could not get mo- 
ney for it, unknown to my parents at that time. 

Conf. Do you promise me to perform it as soon as 
you can ? 

Mary. I have the money here, which I will leave 
with you, and you may say, or order another priest 
to say the masses. 

Conf Very well: But tell me now, what reason 
have you to come to confess out of the time appointed 
by the church ? Is it for devotion, to quiet your con- 
science, and merely to make your peace with God Al- 
mighty, or some worldly end ? 

Mary. Good father, pity my condition, and pray 
put me in the right way of salvation, for I am ready 
to despair of God's mercy, if you do not quiet and ease 
my troubled conscience. Now I will answer to youy 
question : The reason is, because a gentleman, who 
under promise of marriage, has kept me these two last 

* A real of plate is about seven-pence of our uioney in Ire- 



TO POPERY. ai 

years, is dead two months ago ; and I have resolved 
in my heart to retire myself into a monastery, and to 
end there my days, serving God and his holy mother^ 
the virgin Mary. 

Conf. Do not take any resolution precipitately, for, 
may be, if your passion grows cool, you will alter your 
mind ; and I suspect, with a great deal of reason, that 
your repentance is not sincere, and that you come to 
confess out of sorrow for the gentleman's death, more 
than out of sorrow for your sins; and if it be so, I ad- 
vise you to take more time to consider the state of 
your conscience, and to come to me a fortnight 
hence. 

Mary. My father, all the world shall not alter my 
mind, and the daily remorse of my conscience brings 
me to your feet, with a full resolution to confess all 
my sins, in order to obtain absolution and to live a 
new life hereafter. 

Co7if. if it is so, let us in the name of God, begin the 
confession, and I require of you not to forget any cir- 
cumstance of sin, which may contribute to ease you> 
conscience. And, above all, I desire of you to lay aside 
shame, while you confess your sins ; for, suppose that 
jt>ur sins exceed the number of stars, or the number 
the sands of the sea, God's mercy is infinite, and ac- 
cepts of the true penitent heart, for he wills not the 
death of a sinner, but that he should repent and turn 
to him. 

Mary. I do design to open freely my heart to you^ 
and to follow your advice, as to the spiritual course of 
my life. 



3£ A MASTER-KEY 

Conf. Begin then Ly the first commandment. 

Mary. I do confess, in t!iis commandment, that I 
have not loved God above all things; for ail my care, 
these two years past, has been to please Don Francis- 
co, in whatever thing ho did desire me ; and, to the 
best of my memory, I did not tiiink of God, nor of his 
mother Mary, for many months together. 

Conf. Have you constantly frequented the assem- 
blies of the faithful, and heard mass on Sundays, and 
holy days ? 

Mary. No, father : sometimes I have been four 
months without going to church, 

Ci^nf. You have done a great injury to your soul, 
and you have given great scandal to your neighbours, 

Mary. As for the first, I own it; but every Sunday 
and holy day I went out in the morning, and in soi>o- 
pulous a city they could not know the church 1 use to 
resort to. 

Conf. Did it come into your mind all this while, that 
God would punish you for your sins ? 

Mary. Yea, father, but the virgin Mary is my advo- 
cate, I keep her image by my bed-side, and used to 
address my prayer to her every night before I went 
to bed, and I had always a great hope in her. 

Conf If your devotion to the virgin Mary is so fer- 
vent, you must believe that your heart is moved to re- 
pentance by her influence and mediation ; and I charge 
you to continue the same devotion while you live, and 
fear nothing afterwards. 

Mary. That is my 5^sign* 

Conf Go on. 



TO POPERY. SB 

Mary. Tlie^second commandment is, Thoii, shall not 
swear: I never wtis guilty of swearing, but I have a 
custom of saying, ^ Such a thing is so, as sure as there 
is a God in heaven :' and this I repeat very often eve- 
ry day. 

Conf. That is a sinful custom, for we cannot swear, 
nor affirm a thing by heaven or earth, as the scripture 
tells us; and less by him who has the throne of his ha« 
bitation in heaven : so you must break off that custom, 
or else you commit a sin every time you make use of 
it. Go on. 

Marij. The third is, Thou shall sanctify Ihe holy days, 
I have told you already, my spiritual father, that I 
have neglected some time, to go to mass, four months 
together ; and, to the best of my memory, in these two 
years and two months, I have missed sixty Sun- 
days and holy days going to mass, and when I did go, 
my mind was so much taken up with other diversions, 
that I did not mind the requisite devotion, for which 
I am heartily sorry. 

Conf. I hope you will not do so for the future; and 
so go on. 

Maj^y. The fourth is, Thmc shall honor falher and 
mother. I have father and mother ; as to my father, 
I do love, honor and fear him; as to my mother, I do 
confess, that I have answered and acted contrary to 
the duty, respect and reverence due to lier, for her sus- 
pecting and watching my actions and false steps, and 
giving me a christian correction, I have abused her, 
nay, sometimes, I have lifted ray band to threaten herj 
and these proceedings of mine towards my good mo- 
ther, now torture my heart* 



Si A MASTER-KEY 

Conf. I am glad to observe your grief, and you may 
be sure, God will forgive you these and other sins upon 
your hearty repentance, if you persevere in it. Go on. 

Mary. The fifth is, Thow shall not kill. I have not 
transgressed this commandment effectively and imme- 
diately, but I have done it affectively and mediate^; , 
and at second hand; for a gentlewoman, who was 
a great hindrance to my designs, once provoked me 
to such a pitch, that I put in execution all the means 
of revenge I could think of, and gave ten pistoles to 
an assassin to take away her life. 

Conf. And did he kill her ? 

Mary. No, father, for she kept her house for three 
months, and in that time we were reconciled, and now 
we arc very good friends. 

Conf. Have you asked her pardon, and told her your 
design ? 

Mary. I did not tell her in express terms, but 1 told 
lier that I had an ill will to her, and that at tliat time, 
I could have killed her, had I got an opportunity for 
it : for v/hich I heartily begged her pardon ; she did 
forgive me, and so we live ever since like tw a sistei*s. 

Conf. Go on. 

Mary. The sixth, Thou shall not commit fornication^ 
In the first place, I do confess that I have unlawfully 
conversed with the said Don Francisco, for two years, 
and this unlaw^fid commerce has made me fall into 
many other sins. 

Conf. Did he promise solemnly to marry you? 

Mary. He did, but could not perform it, while his 
father was alive- 



TO POPERY. 33 

Co7if. Tell me, from the beginning, to the day of his 
death, and to the best of your memory, your sinful 
thouglits, words, actions, nay, your very dreams about 
this matter. 

Mary. Father, the gentleman was our neighbour, 
ox a good family and fortune, and by means of the 
neighbourly friendsiiip of our parents, we had the op- 
portunity to talk with one another as often as we 
pleased. For two years together we loved one another 
with innocence; but at last he discovered to me one 
day, when our parents were abroad, the great inclina- 
tion he had for me; and that having grown to a pas- 
sion, and this to an inexpressible love, he could no 
longer hide it from me : that his design was to marry 
me, as soon as his father should die, and that he was 
willing to give me all the proofs of sincerity and un- 
feigned lore, I could desire from him. To this I an- 
swered, that if it was so, I was ready to promise never 
to marry anotlier, during his life : to this, he took a 
crucifix in his hands, and bowing down before an im- 
age of the virgin Mary, called the four elements to be 
witnesses of the sincerity of his vows, nay, all the saints 
of the heavenly court, to appear against him in the day 
of judgment, if he was not true in his heart and words ; 
and said, that by the crucifix in his hands, and by the 
image of the virgin Mary, there present, he did pro- 
mise and swear never to marry another during my 
life. I answered him in the same manner ; and ever 
since, we have lived with the familiarities of husband 
and wife. The effect of this reciprocal promise was 
the ruin of my soul, and the beginning of my sinful 



$6 A MASTER-KEY 

life ; for ever since I minded nothing else, but to please 
him and myself, when I had opportunity for it. 

Conf. How often did he visit you ? 

Mary. The first year he came to my room every 
night, after both families were gone to bed; for in the 
vatdt of his house, which joins to ours, we dug one 
night through the earth, and made a passage wide 
enough for the purpose, Avhich we covered on each 
side with a largeiearthen water-jar ; and by that means 
became to me every niglit. But my grief is double, 
wlien I consider, that engaging my own maid into this 
intrigue, I have been the occasion of her ruin too ; for 
by my ill example, she lived in the same way with the 
gentleman's servant, and 1 own that I have been the 
occasion of all her sins too. 

Conf. And the second year did he visit you so often? 

Mary. No, father; for the breach in the vault was 
dliscovered by his father, and was stopped immediate- 
ly ; but nobody suspected any thing of our intimacy, 
except my mother, who from something she had ob- 
served, began to question me, and afterwards became 
more suspicious and watchful. 

Conf. Did any effect of these visits come to light ? 

Mary. It would, had I not been so barbarous and 
inhuman to prevent it by a remedy I took, which an- 
swered my purpose. 

Conf. And how could you get the remedy, there be- 
ing a rigorous law against it ? 

Mary. The procuring it brought me into a yet wick- 
eder life; for 1 was acquainted with a friar, a cousin 
<5f mine, who had always expressed a great esteem for 



TO POPERY. 37 

,me; but one day after dinner, being alone, be began 
to make love to me, and was going to take greater li- 
berties tban ever be had done before : I told him, tbat 
if he coald keep a secret, and do me a service, ^ would 
comply with his desire. He did promise me to do it 
upon the word of a priest. Tben I told him my busi- 
ness, and the day after he brought me tlie necessary 
medicine ; and ever since I was freed from that unea- 
siness, 1 have lived the same course of life with my 
cousin ; nay, as I was under such an obligation to him, 
I have ever since been obliged to allow him many other 
liberties in my house. 

Conf. Are those other liberties he took in your 
house, sinful or not? 

Mary. The liberties that I mean are, that he desir- 
ed me to gratify his companion too, several times, and 
to consent that my maid should satisfy his lustsj and 
not only this, but, by desiring me to corrupt one of my 
friends, he has ruined her soul ^ for, being in the same 
condition I had been in before, I was obliged, out of 
fear, to furnish her with the same remedy, which pro- 
duced the same efTect. Besides these wicked actions, 
I have robbed my parents to supply him with whatever 
money he demanded. 

Cojif. But as to Don Francisco, pray tell me, how 
often did he visit you since? 

Mary. Tiie second year he could not see me in pri- 
vate but very seldom, and in a sacred place ; for hav- 
ing no opportunity at home, nor abroad, 1 used to go 
to a little chapel out of the town, and having gained 



38 A MASTER-KEY 

the hermit with money, we continued our commerce, 
that way, for six or eight times the second year. 

Conf. Your sins are aggravated, hoth hy the circum- 
stance of the sacred place, and hy your cousin's being 
a priest, besides the two murders committed by you, 
one yourself, and the other in your friend. Nay, go 
on, if you have any more to say upon this subject. 

Mary. I have nothing else to say, as to this coni- 
jnandment, but that 1 am heartily sorry for all these my 
misdoings. 

Conf. Go on. 

Mary. Tlie seventh. Thou shall not steal. I have no- 
thing to confess in this commandment, but what 1 have 
told you already, i. e. that I have stolen many things 
from my father's house, to satisfy my cousin's thirst 
of money ; and that I have advised my friend to do 
the same ; though this was done by me, only for fear 
that he should expose us, if we had not given him what 
he did desire. 

Conf. And do you design to continue the same life 
with your cousin, for fear of being discovered? 

Mary. No, father; for he is sent to anotlicr convent 
to be professor of divinity for three years, and if he 
comes back again, he slialj find me in a monastery j 
and then 1 will be safe, and free from his wicked at- 
tempts. 

Conf. How long is it since h^ went away ? 

Mary. Three months, and his companion is dead ; 
so, God be thanked, I am without any apprehension or 
fear now, and I hope to see my good design accom- 
plished. 



TO POPERY- 39 

Conf. Go OB. 

Mary. The eighth is, Thou shall not hear false wit- 
nesSf nor lie. The ninth, Thoii shall not covet thy neigh- 
bour's wife. The tenth, Thou shall not covet the things 
which are another's. 1 know nothing in these tlu'ee 
commandments that trouble my conscience: therefore, 
I conclude by confessing, in general and particular, 
all the sins of my whole life, committed by thought, 
word and deed, and I am heartily sorry for them all. 
and ask God's pardon and your advice, penance and 
absolution. Jlmen. 

Conf. Have you transgressed the fourth command- 
ment of the church ? 

Mary. Yea, father; for I did not fast as it pre 
scribes, for though I did abstain from flesh, yet I did 
not keep the form of fasting these two years past; but 
I have done it since the gentleman's death. 

Cmif. Have you this year taken the bull of indulgen- 
ces? 

Mary, Yea, father. 

Covf. Have you visited five altars, the days appoint- 
ed for his holiness to take a soul out of purgatory ? 

Mary. 1 did not for several days. 

Conf. Do you promise me, as a minister of God, and 
as if you were now before the tribunal of the dreadful 
judge, to amend your life, and to avoid all the occasi- 
ons of falling into the same or other sins, and ixy fre- 
quent, for the future, this sacrament, and the others, 
and to obey the commandments of God, as things ab- 
solutely necessary to the salvation of your soul? 



40 A MASTER-KEY 

Mary. That is my design with the help of God, and 
of the blessed virgin Mary, in whom I put my whole 
trust and confidence. 

Conj. Your contrition must be the foundation of 
your new life, for if you fall into other sins after this 
signal benefit you have received from God, and liis 
blessed mother, of calling you to repentance, it will 
be a hard thing for you to obtain pardon and forgive- 
jiess. You see God has taken away all the obstacles 
of your true repentance; pray ask continually Isis grace, 
that you may make good use of these heavenly fa- 
Tours, But you ought to consider, tltat though you 
shall be freed by my absolution, from the eternal pains 
your manifold sins deserve, you shall not he free from 
the siilferings of purgatory, v/here you.r soul must be 
purified by fire, if you in this present life do not take 
care to redeem your soul from that terrible flame, by 
ordering some masses for the relief of the souls in pur* 
gatory. 

Mary. I design to do it, as far as it lies in my pow-r 
er. 

Couf. Now to sliew your obedience to God, and our 
mother, the church, you must perform the following 
penance. You must fast every second day, to mortify 
your lusts and passions, and this for tlie space of tw^o 
months. You must visit five altars every second day, 
and one privileged altar, and say in each of them five 
times Pater nosier^ Sfc. and five times Jive Mary^ Sfc. 
You must say too, every day for two months time, 
three and thirty times the creed, in honor and memo- 
ry of the three and thirty years that our Saviour did 



TO POPERY. *1 

live upon the earth ; and you must confess once a 
week ; that by the continuance of tliese spiritual exer- 
cises, your soul may be preserved from several temp- 
tations, and may be happy forever. 

Mary. I will do all that witii the help of God. 

Conf. Say the act of contrition, while I absolve you. 

Mary. God, my God, I have sinned against thee, 
I am heartily sorry, &c. 

Conf. Our Lord Jesus Christ absolve thee; and by 
the authority given me I absolve thee, &c. Amen. 

The second. A private confession of a woman to afii- 
arofthe dominican order^laid down in writing before 
the moral academy 9 1710, and the opinions of the vieni' 
hers about it. the person was not known^ therefore I 
shall call her Leonore. 

Leonare did confess to F. Joseph Riva, the following 
misdoings. 

Leonore. MY reverend father, I come to this place, 
to make a general confession of all the sins I have com- 
mitted in the whole course of my life, or of all those 
I can remember. 

Conf How Jong have you been in preparing your^ 
self for this general confession ? 

Leon. Eight days. 

Conf. Eight days are not enough to recollect your- 
self, and bring into your memory all the sins of your 
life. 

Leon. Father, have patience till you hear me, and 
then you may judge whether my confession be perfect^ 
or imperfect* 



^'Z 



A MASTER KEY 



Conf. How long is it since you confessed the last 
time ? 

Leon. The last time I confessed was the Sunday be- 
fore Easter, which is eleven months and twenty days. 

Conf. Did you accomplish the penance then impos- 
ed upon you ? 

Leon. Yea, father, 

Gonf. Begin then your confession. 

Leon. I have neglected my duty towards God, by 
whose holy name I have many times sworn. I have 
not sanctified his holy days as I was obliged by law, 
nor honored my parents and superiors. I have many 
and many times desired the deatli of my neighbours, 
when I was in a passion. 1 have been deeply engag- 
ed in amorous intrigues with many people of all ranks, 
but these two years past most constantly with Don Pe- 
dro Hasta, who is the only support of my life. 

Conf. Now I find out the reason why you have so 
long neglected to conie to confess, and 1 do expect, 
that you will tell me all tlie circumstances of your life, 
that I may judge the present state of your conscience, 

Leoji. Father : as for the sins of my youth, till 1 
was 16 years of age, they are of no great consequence, 
and I hope God Almighty will pardon me. Now my 
general confession begins from that time, when I fell 
into the first sin, which was in the following manner. 

Tlie confessor of our family was a Franciscan friar, 
who was absolute master in our house; for my father 
and mother were entirely governed by him. It was 
about that time of my life I lost my mother ; and i| 
ipomth after her my father died, leaving all his sub- 



TO POPERT* 13 

stance to the father confessor, to dispose of at his own 
fancy, reserving only a certain part, which I was to have 
to settle me in the world, on condition that I was obe- 
dient to him. A month after my father's death, on pre- 
tence of taking care of every thing* that was in the 
liouse, he ordered a bed for himself in the chamber next 
to mine, where my maid also used to lie. After sup- 
per, the first night he came home, he addressed himself 
thus to me. My daughter, you may with reason call 
me your father, for you are the only child your father 
left under my care. Your patrimony is in my hands, 
and you ought to obey me blindly in every thing : so 
in the first place order your maid's bed to be removed 
out of your own chamber into another. Wliich being 
done accordingly, we parted, and went each one to our 
own room; but an hour was scarcely passed away, 
when the father came into my chamber, and what by 
flattery and promises, and what by threatnings, he de- 
prived me of the best patrimony, my innocence. We 
continued this course of life till, as I believe, he was 
tired of me; for two months after, betook every thing 
out of the house, and went to his convent, where he 
died in ten days time ; and by his death I lost the pa- 
trimony kft me by my father, and with it all my sup- 
port; and as my parents had spared nothing in my ed- 
ucation, and I had always been kept in the greatest 
affluence of every thing, you may judge how 1 was af- 
fected by the miserable circumstances I was then left 
in, with servants to maintain, and nothing in the world 
to supply even the necessary expences of my house* 
This uiade me the more ready to accept the first offer 



M< A master-key 

that slioiild be made me, and my condition bcii^g* known 
to an oHiccr of the army, he came to offer nje h.i^j iiinii- 
Lie services, 1 comjuied with liis desire, and so lor 
two years we lived together, till at last he was obliged 
to repair to his regiment at Catalonia; and though he 
left me appointmeuts more than sufficient for my sub- 
sistence during his absence, jet all our correspondence 
was soon broken off by his death, wdiicli happened soon 
after. Then, resolving to alter my life and conversa- 
tion, I went to confess, and after having given an ac- 
count to my confessor of my life, he, asking my name, 
did promise to come next day to see me, and to put 
me into a comfortable and credible way of living. I 
was very glad to get such a patron, and so the next 
day, I did wait at home for him. 

The fatlier came, and after various discourses, he 
took me by tiie band into my ciiamber, and told me 
that if I was willing to put in his hands my jewels, and 
what other things of value I had got from the officer, 
lie would engage to get a gentleman suitable to my 
condition to marry me. I did every thing as he desir- 
ed me, and so taking along with him all I had in the 
world, he carried them to his cell. 

The next day he came to see me, and made me ano- 
ther proposal, very diiferent from what 1 expected ; 
for he told me that 1 must comply with his desire, or 
else he would expose me, and inform against me before 
the holy tribunal of the inquisition : so, rather than in- 
cur that danger, I did for the space of six months, in 
which, having nothing to live upon (for he kept my 
jewels) I was obliged to abandon myself to many other 
gentlemen, by whom I was maintained. 



TO POPERY. 45 

At last he left me, and I still continued my wicked 
life, unlawfully conversing with married and unmar- 
ried gentlemen a whole year, and not daring to con- 
fess, for fear of finding the same success in another 
confessor. 

Conf. But how could you fulfil the precept of the 
church, and not he exposed in the cliurch after Easter, 
all that while. 

Leon. I went to an old easy father, and promised 
him a pistole for a certificate of confession, which he 
gave me without further inquiring into the matter j 
and so I did satisfy the curate of the parish with it. . 
But last year I went to confess, and the confessor was 
very strict, and would not give mo absolution because 
I was an iiabitual sinner ; but I gave him five pistoles 
for ten masses, and then he told me that a confessor's 
duty w^as to take care of the souls in purgatory, and 
that upon their account he could not refuse me absolu- 
tion; so by that way I escaped the censure of the 
church. 

Conf. How long is it since you broke off your sinful 
life ? 

Leon. But six weeks. 

Conf. I cannot absolve you now", but come again 
next Thursday, and I will consult upon all the cir- 
cumstances of your life, and then I Avill absolve you. 

Leon. Father, I have more to say : for I stole from 
the church a chalice, by the advice of the said confes- 
sor, and he made use himself of the money I got for 
the silver, w hich I cut in pieces ; and 1 did converse 
unlawfully several times in the church with him. To • 



4i5 A MASTER-KEY 

this I must add an infinite number of sins by thought, 
word, anct d^ed, I have committed in this time, especi- 
ally witii the last person of my acquaintance, though 
at present I am free from him* 

Conf, Pray give me leave to consult upon all these 
things, and I will resolve them to you the next confes- 
sion ; now go in peace. 

The first point to be resolved was, whether Leonore 
could sue the Franciscan convent for the patrimony 
left by lier father in the confessor^s hands ? 

The president went through all the reasons pro and 
con, and after resolved, that though the said Leonore 
was never disobedient to her confessor, she could not 
sue the community without lessening of her own repu- 
tation, and laying upon the order so black a crime as 
that of her confessor ^ and that it was the common 
maxim of all casuists that, Li rebus dubiis^ minium est 
sequendum^ In things doubtful, that of the least evil 
consequence is to be pursued ; and seeing the losing 
of her patrimony would be less damage than the ex- 
posing of the whole Franciscan order, and her own 
reputation : it did seem proper to leave the thing as it 
was. 

The second point to be resolved was, whether Leo- 
nore was in proxima occasione peccati^ in the next occa- 
sion of sin, with such a confessor the two first months ? 

Six members of the academy did think that she 
was ; for immediate occasion of sin signifies, that the 
person may satisfy his passions Mies quoties^ without 
any impediment^ which Leonore could do all that while* 



TO POPERY. 47 

But the other members of the academy did object 
against it : that the nature of occasio proxima^ besides 
the said reason implies freedom and liberty, which Leo- 
nore did want at that time, being as she was young, 
unexperienced, timorous, and under the confessor's 
care and power : so it was resolved, that she was not 
the first two montlis iiiproxima occasione peccati. 

The tliird point : whether she committed greater 
sin with t\\Q second confessor, who threatened her with 
the inquisition? And whether she was obliged to un- 
dergo all the hardships, nay death itself rather than 
comply with the confessor's desire ? 

It was resolved nemine contradicente^ that she was 
obliged for self-preservation's sake to comply with the 
friar's desire, and therefore her sin was less than 
other sins. 

The fourth : whether she was obliged to make re- 
stitution of the chalice she stole out of the church by 
advice of the confessor ? 

The members could not agree in the decision of this 
point, for some were of opinion, that both she and the 
friar were obliged to make restitution, grounded in the 
moral maxim : Fadcntes^ et consentientes eadem pcena 
puniuntur^ those that act and those who consent are to 
be punished alike. Others said that Leonore was only 
an instrument of theft, and that the friar did put her 
in the way of doing what she never had done, but for 
fear of him, and that she was forced to do it; therefore 
that she had not committed sacrilege, nay, nor venial 
sin by it; and that the friar only was guilty of sacri- 
lege and robbery, and was obliged to make restitution* 



48 .,,A master-key 

Upon this division the reverend Mr. Ant, Palomo, thenu 
professor of philosophy, was appointed to lay the cas^^ 
before the members of the greut academy, with this li- 
Tnitation, that he should not mention any thing of the 
friar in it ; except the members of the academy should 
ask him the aggravating circumstances in the case. 

He did it accordingly, and being asked by the pre- 
sident about the circumstances, it was resolved that 
Leonore was free from restitution, taking a bull of par- 
dons. And as for the friar, by his belonging to the 
community, and having nothing of his own, and oblig- 
ed to leave at his deatli, every thing to the convent, he 
must be excused from making such restitution, &c. 

The fifth point : whether the church was desecrat- 
ed by their unlawful commerce ? And whether the 
confessor was obliged to reveal the nature of the thing 
to the bishop or not ? 

As to the first part, all did agree, that the church 
was polluted. As to the second, four were of opinion 
that the thing was to be revealed to 4;he bishop in ge- 
neral terms : but sixteen did object against it, and said, 
that the dominical, asperges me Hysopo <^ mundaior^ 
thou shalt sprinkle me with hysop, and I shall be clean, 
&c. When the priest with holy water and hysop, 
sprinkles the church, it was enough to restore and pu- 
rify it. 

After which, the president moved another questi(fn, 
vi%. whether this private confession was to be entered 
dn the academy's book ; adperpetiiamrd mcmonam^ 
in perpetual memory of the thing. And it was agreed 
td enter the cases and resolutions mentioning, nothing 



TO POPERY ^9 

^ricerning^ the confessors, nor their orders. Item, it 
was resolved that tlie proponent could safely in consci- 
ence absolve Leonore the next confession, if she had 
the bull of indulgencies ; and promised to be zealous 
in the correction and penance, which he was to give 
her, &c. And accordingly he did, and Leonore was 
absolved. 

The third private confession proposed in the academy ^ hy 
father Gasca^ a Jesuit^ and member of the academy : 
of a woman of thirty -three years of age. 

Most reverend and learned fathers, I have thought 
fit not to trouble you with the methodical way of a 
private confession I heard last Sunday, but to give you 
only an account of the difficult case in it. The case 
is this : a woman of thirty -three years of age came to 
confess, and told me, that from sixteen years of age, 
till twenty-four, she had committed all sorts of lewd- 
ness, only with ecclesiastical persons, having in every 
convent a friar, who under the name of a cousin^ did 
use to visit her: and notwithstanding the multiplicity 
of cousins, she did live so poorly^ that she was forced - 
to turn procuress at the same time for new cousins ; 
and that sh^ had followed that wicked life till thirty- 
two years of age : that last year she dreamed that the 
devil was very free with her, and these dreams or vi-^ 
«ions continuing for a long wliile, she found herself 
with child: and slie protests that she knew no man for 
fourteen months before: she is delivered of a boy, andi 
she says that he is the devil's son, and that her con- 
science is so ti-oubled about it, that if I do not find 



so AMASTEIl-KEY 

some way to quiet her mind, she will lay violent hands 
upon herself, I asked her leave to consult the case, 
with a promise to resolve it next Sunday. Now I ask 
your wise advice upon this case. 

The president said that the case was inipossiblc, and 
that the woman was r/iad, and that he was of opinion 
to send the woman to the physicians to be cured of 
some bodily distemper she was troubled with. Tlie 
Jesuit proponerit replied, that the woman was in her 
perfect senses, and that the case w^ell required farther 
consideration : upon which F. Antonio Palomo, who 
was reputed the most learned of the academy, said, 
that saint Augustin treats de Inciibo Sf Siiciilo^ and he 
would examine the case and see whether he might not 
give some light for the resolution of it. 

And another member said, that there was in the case 
something more than apparition and devilish liberty^ 
and that he thought fit that the father Jesuit should 
inquire more carefully into the matter, and go himself 
to examine the house, and question the people of it : 
which being approved of by the whole assembly, he 
did it the next morning, and in tlie afternoon, being an 
extraordinary meeting, he came and said, 

Most reverend and learned fathers, the woman was 
so strongly possessed witb such a vision, that she has 
made public the case among the neighbours, and it is 
spread abroad ; upon which the inquisitors <lid send 
for tlie woman and the maid, and tiws 4ias discovered 
the whole story, ri^. That father Concliillos, Victorian 
friar, was in love with the woman, but she could not 
endure the sight of liim : that he gainied the maid, and 



TO POPERt. 31 

by that means, he got into lier house every night, and 
the maid putting some opium into her mistress's sup- 
per, she fell fast asleep, and the said father did lie with 
her six nights together : so the child is not the son of 
the devil, but of father Conchillos. Afterwards it was 
resolved to enter the case for a memorandum, in the 
academy's book. 

The friar was put into the inquisition, for having 
persuaded the maid to tell her mistress that it Vv as the 
devil; for she had been under the same fear, and real- 
ly she was in the same condition. What became of 
tlie friar I do not know, this I do aver for a truth, that 
I spoke with the woman myself, and with the maid; 
and that the children used to go to her door, and call 
for the son of tho. devil : and being so mocked, she 
left the city in a few days after, and we were told that 
she lived after it a retired christian life in the coun- 
try. 

Tlie fourth prixmte confession of a piiest^ being at the 
point of deaths in iriO. I shall call him Bon Fqiilo. 

Don Faulo. Since God Almighty is pleased to visif 
me w ith this sickness, I ought to make good use of the 
time I have to live, and I desire of you to help me w ith 
your*^)rayers, and to take the trouble to write some 
substantial points of my confession, that you may per- 
form after my death, whatever I think may enable me 
in some measuro*to discharge my duty towards God 
and men. When I was ordained priest, I made a gene- 
ral confession of all my sins from my youth to that time, 
and I v.ish I coaid now be as true a penitent, as I w^as 



o2 A MASTER-KEY 

that time; but I hope, though it is too late, that God 
will hear the prayer of my heart. 

I l)ave served my parish sixteen years, and all my 
care has been to discover the tempers and inclinations 
of my parishioners, and I have been as happy in this 
world as unhappy before my Saviour. I have in rea- 
dy money fifteen thousand pistoles, and I have given 
away more than six thousand. 1 had no patrimony, 
and my Jiving is worth but four hundred pistoles a 
year. By this you may easily know, that my money 
is unlawfully gotten, as I shall tell you, if God spares 
my life, till I make an end of my confession. Tiicre are 
in my parish sixteen hundred families, and more or less 
I have defrau<led them all some way or other. 

My thouglits liave been impure ever since I began 
to hear confessions ; my words grave and severe with 
them all, and all my parishioners have respected and 
feared me. J have had so great an empire over them, 
that some of them, knowing of my misdoings, have ta.- 
ken my defence in public. They have liad in me a 
solicitor in all emergencies, and I have omitted nothing 
to please them in outward appearance ; but my ac- 
tions have been the most criminal of marikind : for as 
to my ecclesiastical duty, wliat I have done has been 
for custom^s sake. The necessary intention of a priest, 
in the administration of baptism and consecration, 
without whicli the sacraments are of none effect, I con- 
fess I had it not for several times, as you shall see in 
the parish books; and observe there, that all those 
names marked with a star, the baptism was not valid, 
for 1 had no intention: and for this I can give no other 



TO POPERY. hd 

reason than my malice and wickedness. Many of them 
are dead, for which I am heartily sorry. As for the 
times I have consecrated without inteution, we must 
leave it to God Ahnighty's mercy, for the wrong done 
by it to the souls of my parishioners, and those in pur- 
gatory cannot be helped. 

As to the confessions and wills I have received from 
my parishioners at the point of their death, I do con- 
fess, I have made myself master of as much as I could, 
and by that means I have gathered together all my 
riches. I have sent this morning for fifty hulls, and I 
have given one hundred pistoles for the benefit of the 
holy cruzade, by which his holiness secures my soul 
from eternal death. 

As to niy duty towards God, I am guilty to the 
highest degree : for I have not loved hini^* I have ne- 
glected to say the private divine service at home every 
day; 1 have polluted his holy days by my grievous sins: 
I iiave not minded my superiors in the respect due to 
them: and I have been the cause of many innocents' 
deatli. I have procured, by remedies, sixty abortions, 
making the fathers of the children their murderers : 
besides many others intended^ though not executed, ])y 
some unexpected accident. 

As to tJie sixtli commandment, I caiinot confess hy, 
particulars, but by general heads, my sins. I confess, 
in the first place, that I have frequented the parish 
club twelve years. We were only six parish priests in 
it ; and there we did consult and contrive all the w ays 
to satisfy our passions. Every body had a list of ihi^ 
h^ndsoixiest women in his parish ^ and when one had 



^i A MASTER-KEY 

a fancy to sec any woman, remarkable for her beauty, 
in another's parish, the priest of her parish scut for 
lier to his own house; and having prepared the way 
for wickedness, the other had nothing' to do but to meet 
her there, and fulfil his desires; and so we have serv- 
ed one another these twelve years past. Our method 
lias been, to persuade the husbands and fathers not to 
hinder them any spiritual comfort ; and to the ladies 
to persuade them to be subject to our advice and will; 
and that in so doing, tlicy should have liberty at any 
time to go out on pretence of communicating some spi- 
ritual busiiaess to tlie priest: and if they refuse to do 
it, then we should speak to their husbands and fathers 
not to let them go out at all; or, wliich would be worse 
for them, we should inform against them to the holy 
tribunal of the inquisition : and by these diabolical per- 
suasions, they were always at our command, without 
fear of revealing the secret. 

I have spared no woman of my parish, whom I had 
a fancy tor, and many other of my brethren's parishes; 
tut I cannot tell the number. 1 have sixty nepotes 
alive, of several women : but my principal care ought 
to be of those that I have by the two young women I 
keep at home since their parents died. Both are sis- 
tervS, and I have by the eldest two boys, and by the 
youngest one ; and one wliich I had by my own sistc r 
is dead. Therefore I leave to my sister five thousand 
pistoles, ujyon condition tliat she would enter nun in 
St. Bernard's monastery; and upon the same condi- 
tion I leave two thousand pistoles a-piece to iiw, two 
.young women J and the remainder i leave to my tlirce 



TO POPERY,. 55 

nepote^ mider the care of Mossen John Peralta, and 
ordering that they should be heirs to one another, if 
any of them should die before they are settled in the 
^vorld; and if all should die, I leave the money to the 
treasury of the church, for the benefit of the souls in 
purgatory : item, I order that all the papers of such a 
little trunk be burnt after my confession is over, (which 
was done accordingly) and that the holy bull of the 
dead be bought before 1 die, that I may have the com- 
fort of having at home the pope's pass for the next 
world. Now I ask your penance and absolution for 
all the sins reserved in all the bulls, from the first 
pope; for which purpose I have taken the bull of pri- 
vileges in such cases as mine. So I did absolve him. 
and assisted him afterwards, and he died the next day. 
What to do in such a case, was all my uneasiness after 
his death; for if 1 did propose the case before the 
Biemhers of the academy, every body could easily 
know the person, w!iich was against one of the arti- 
cles we did swear at our admittance into it: and if I 
did not propose it, f should act against another arti- 
cle. All my difficulty was about the baptisms which 
he had administered without intention : fjr it is t!ie 
known opinion of their church that the intention of a 
priest is absolutely necessary to the validity of the sa- 
crament, and that without it there is no sacrament at 
all. 1 had examined tlie books of the parish, and i 
found a hundred and fifty -two names marked with a 
star; and examining the register of the dead, 1 found 
eighty-six of them dead : according to the principles 
of the ciuirch^ all tliose that were alive were to be bap- 



^^ AJIASTER-KEY 

lized : wliicli could not be doiKi without great scandal, 
and prejudice to the clergy. In this uneasiness oriiiind 
1 continued, till I went to visit the reverenci fathei''' 
John Garcia, who had been my master in divinity, and 
I did consult him on the case, sub secreto natnralL fie 
did advise me to propose the case to tlic assembly, np- 
031 supposition, tliat if such a case siiould happen, what 
should be done in it; and he did recommend to me to 
talk with a great deal of caution, and to insist that it 
ought to be communicated to the bisliop; and if the 
members did agree with me, then without further con- 
fession, 1 was to go to the bishop, and tell his lordship 
the case, under secresy of confession : I did so^^and the 
bishop said he would send for tlie books, and take a 
list of all tiiose names ; and as many of them Jis could 
be found he would send for, one by one, into his own 
chamber, and baptize them; ctmrmanding them under 
pain of ecclesiastical censure, not to talk of it, neither 
in public nor private. But as fov the other sins there 
was no necessity of revealing them, for by virtue af 
the bull of cruzade (of which I shall speak in the se- 
cond chapter) we covdd absolve them all. 

Hear, heaven! Give car, O earth! and be horri- 
bly astonished! to see the best religion in the world 
turned into superstition and folly ; to see too tliat those 
who are to guide the people, ar.d put their flock in the 
way of salvation, are wolves in sheep's clothing, that 
devour them, and put them into the way of damnation. 
O God ! open the eyes of the ignorant peojde, that 
they may see the injuries done to their souls by their 
own guidcso 



TO POPERY. hi 

I do not write this out of any private end, to blame 
ail sorts of confessors ; for there are some who, accord- 
ing to the principles of their religion, do discharge 
their duty with exactness and purity, and whose lives, 
in their own way, are unblamable, and without re- 
proach among men. Such confessors as these I am 
speaking of, are sober in their actions : they mortify 
their bodies with fasting over and above the rules pre- 
scribed by the church, by discipline, by kneeling dovvu 
in their closets six or eiglit hours every day, to medi- 
tate on the holy mysteries, the goodness of God, ami 
to pray to liim for all sorts of sinners, that they may 
be brought to repentance and salvation, &c. They 
sleep but few hours: they spend most of their spare 
time in reading the ancient fathers of the church, and 
other books of devotion. 

They live poorly, because whatever they have, the 
poor are the enjoyers of it. The time they give to 
the public is but very little, and not every day ; and 
then whatever counsels they give are right, sincere, 
without flattery or interest. All pious, religious per- 
sons do solicit their acquaintance and conversation^ 
but they avoid all pomp and vanity, and keep them- 
selves, as much as they can, witliin the limits of soli- 
tude ; and if they make some visits, it must be upon 
urgent necessity. Sometimes you may find them in 
the hospitals among the poor sick, helping and exhort- 
ing them : but they go there most commonly in the 
night, for what they do, they do it not out of pride, 
but humilityr 

I knew some of these exemplary men, but a very 
few; and I heard some of them preach with a fervent 



58 A MASTER-KEr 

zeal about the promoting of Christ'ls religion, and ex- 
liortiag tlie people to put their lives voluntarily in the 
defence of the Roman catholic faith, and extirpate and 
destroy all the enemies of their communion. I do not 
pretend to judge them, for judgment belongeth to God: 
this I say, with St. Paul, that if those religious men 
have a zeal of God, their '^ zeal is not according to 
knowledge.'^ 

The ffth pnvate confession of a nun of the convent of 

S. 0. 

Before I begin the confession, it will not be impro- 
per to give an account of the customs of the nuns, and 
places of their confessions. 

By the constitutions of their order, so many days 
are appointed, in which all the nuns are obliged to 
confess, from the mother abbess to the very wheeler, 
i. e. the nun that turns the wheel near the door, tliro ugh 
which they give, and receive, every tiling they want. 
They have a father confessor and a father companion, 
who live next to the convent, and have a small grate 
in the wall of their chamber, which answers to the up- 
per cloister or gallery of the convent. The confessor 
hath care of the souls of the convent, and he is oblig- 
ed to say mass every day, hear confessions, adminis- 
ter the sacraments, and visit the sick nuns. There 
are several narrow closets in the church, with a small 
iron grate : one side answers to the cloister, and the 
other to the church. So the nun being on the insidC;^ 
and the confessor on the outside, they hear one ano- 
ther. There is a large grate facing the great altar* 



TO POPERY- 5B 

and the holes of it are a quarter of a yard in square, 
but tliat grate is double, that is, one within, and ano- 
ther without, and the distance between both is more 
than half a yard. And besides these, there is another 
grate for relations, and benefactors of the community^ 
which grate is single, and consists of very thin iron 
bars : the holes of sack a grate are near a quarter and 
a half square. In all tl.use grates the nuns confess 
their sinsj for, on a solemn day, they send for ten oi* 
twelve confessors, otherwise they could not confess the 
fourth part of them, for there are in some monasteries 
one hundred and ten nuns, in others eighty, in otliers 
forty, but this last is a small number. 

The nuns' father confessor hath but little trouble 
with the young nuns, for they generally send for a 
confessor who is a stranger to them, so that all his 
trouble is with the old ones, who have no busi- 
ness at the grate. These trouble their confessor 
almost every day with many ridiculous trifles, and will 
keep the poor man two hours at the grate, telling him 
how many times they have spit in the church, how 
many flies they have killed, how many times they have 
flown into a passion w ith their lap-dogs, and other non- 
sensical, ridiculous things like these j and the reason 
is, because they have nothing to do, nobody goes to 
visit them, nor careth for them; so sometimes they 
choose to be spies for the young nuns, when they are 
at the grate with their gallants, and for fear of their 
mother abbess, they place some of the old nuns before 
the door of tlie parlour, to watch the mother abbess, 
and to give them timely notice of her coming; and 



60 A MASTER-KEY 

tlie poor old nuns do perform this office with a great 
deal of pleasure, faithfulness, and some profit too. But 
I shall not say any more of them, confining myself 
wholly to the way of living among the young nuns. 

Many gentlemen send their daughters to the nun- 
nery when they are some five, some six, some eight 
years old, under the care of some nun of their relati- 
ons, or else some old nun of their acquaintance ; and 
there they get education till they are fifteen years old. 
The tutoress takes a great deal of care not to let them 
go to the grate, nor converse with men all the while^ 
to prevent in them the knowledge and love of the 
world. They are caressed by all the nuns, and thinking 
it will be always so, they are well pleased with their 
confinement. They have only liberty to go to the grate 
to their parents or relations, and always accompanied 
with the old mother tutoress. And when they are fif- 
teen years old, w hich is the age fixed by the constituti- 
ons of all the orders, they receive the habit of a nun, 
and begin the year of noviciate, which is the year of 
trial, to see whether they can go through all the hard- 
ships, fastings, disciplines, prayers,' hours of divine 
service, obedience, poverty, chastity and penances prac- 
tised in the monastery: but the prioress or abbess, and 
the rest of the professed nuns, do dispense with, and ex- 
cuse the novices from all the severities, for fear that 
they should be dissatisfied with, and leaA'^e the 
eonvent: and in tliis they are very much in the wrong, 
for, besides that they do not observe tlie precepts of 
their monastical rule, they deceive the po oi', ignorant. 



TO POPERY. 61 

unexperienced young novices, who, after their profes- 
sion and vows of perpetuity, do heartily repent they 
had heen so much indulged. Thus the novices, flat- 
tered in the year of noviciate, and tliinkiiig they will 
be so all their life time, when the year is expired, make 
profession and swear to observe chastity, obedience 
and poverty, during their lives, and clausura^ i. e. con- 
finement ; obliging themselves, by it, never to go out 
of the monastery. 

After the profession is made, they begin to feel the 
severity and hardships of the monastical life ; for one 
is made a door-keeper, another turner of the wheel, to 
receive and deliver by it all the nun's messages, ano- 
ther bell-nun, that is, to call the nuns, when any one 
comes to visit them ; another baker, another book" 
keeper of all the rents and expences, and the like ; and 
in the performance of all these employments they must 
expend a great deal of their own money. After this 
they have liberty to go to the grate, and talk with gen- 
tlemen, priests, and friars, wlio only go there as a gal- 
lant goes to see his mistress. So when the young nuns 
begin to have a notion of the pleasures of the worlds 
and liow they have been deceived, they are heartily sor- 
ry, but two late, for there is no remedy. And minding 
nothing but to satisfy their passions as well as they 
can, they abandon themselves to all sorts of wicked- 
ness, and amorous intrigues. 

There is another sort of nuns, whom the people call 

lasforcadaSf the forced nuns, i. e. those who have made 

a false step in the world, and cannot find husbands, on 

p^count of their crimes being public. Tliose are de- 
F 



62 A MASTER KEY 

spised and ill used by their parents and relations, till 
they chuse to go to the nunnery : So by this it is easi- 
ly known what sort of nuns they will make. 

Now, as to the spending of their time. They get 
up at six in the morning and go to prayers, and to 
liear mass till seven; from seven till ten, they work, or 
go to breakfast, either in their chambers, or in the 
common-hall. At ten they go to the great mass till 
eleven : after it, they go to dinner, after dinner they 
may divert themselves till two; at two they go to 
prayers, for a quarter of an hour, or (if they sing ves- 
pers) for half an hour; and afterwards they are free 
till the next morning : so every one is waiting for her 
devotOf i. e. a gallant, or spiritual husband, as they 
call him. When it is dark night, they send away their 
devotos, and the doors are locked up ; so they go to 
their own chamber to write a billet, or letter to tlie 
-spiritual husband, which they send in the morning to 
them, and get an answer ; and though they see one 
another almost every day, for all that, they must write 
to one another every morning: and these letters of love, 
they call the recreation of the spirit for the time the 
devotos are absent from tliem. Every day they must 
ffive one another an account of whatever thing they 
kave done since the last visit; and indeed there are 
warmer expressions of love and jealousy between the 
nun and the devoto, than between real wife and hus- 
band. 



TO POPERY. 6i^ 

nYow I come to the private confession; and I wish t 
could have the style of an angel^ to express myself rvith 
purity and modesty, in this confession, 

J\'*un. Reverend father, as the number of my sins is 
so great, and so great the variety of circumstances at- 
tending them; mistrusting my memory, I have set 
down in writing tlds confession, that you may entire- 
ly be acquainted with every thing that troubles my 
conscience, and so 1 humbly beg of you to read it. 

Coif. I do approve the method of wanting, but you 
ought to read it yourself, or else it cannot be oris con- 
fession or confession by mouth. 

JSTuiu If it is so, I begin. I thought fit to acquaint 
you witli the circumstances of my life past, that you 
may form a right judgment of my monastical life and 
conversation, which, in some mea^sure, will excuse me 
before tlie world, though not before God our righteous 
judge. 

I ara Vac only daughter of counsellor N. E. who 
brongiU me up in the fear of God, and gave me a writ- 
iisg-mastcr, which is a rare tiling. I was not qiiite 
thirteen years of age, when a gentleman of quality^ 
though not very rich, began liis love tonie, by letters 
which lie (gaining my writing-master) sent to me by 
him. There was nothing in the world so obliging, ci- 
vil, modest and endearing, as his expressions seemed 
to me, and at last having the opportunity of meeting 
him at the house of one of my aunts, his i)erson and 
conversation did so cliarm my heart, that a few days 
after we gave one another reciprocal promises of an 



0* A MASTER-KEY 

eternal union : but by a letter which unfortunately was 
miscarried, and fell into my father's hands, our honest 
designs were discovered ; and without telling me any 
thing, he went to see the gentleman, and spoke to liim 
in this manner : Sir, my daughter, in discharging of 
her duty to so good a father, has communicated to me 
your honorable designs, and I come to thank you for 
the honor yon are pleased to do my family : but being 
so young, we think proper to put off the performance 
of it, till she comes to be fifteen years of age : ]]ow slie 
and I also, as a father to you both (for I look upon 
you as upon my own son) do desire of you the favour 
not to give any public occasion of censure to the watch- 
ful neighbours, and if you have any regard for her, I 
hope you will do this and more for iicr, and for me : 
and to shew you my great aftection, I oifer you a cap- 
tain's commission in the regiment that the city raiseth 
for the king, and ad\1ise you to serve tvvo years, and 
afterwards you may accomplish your desire. The gen- 
tleman accepted it, and the next day the commission 
was signed and delivered to him, with an order to go 
to Catalonia. x\t the same time the writing-master 
was sent out of the town under pretence of rcceiviiig 
some money for my fatlier^ and I was kept close at 
home, so he could not get an opportunity of seeing or 
writing to me ; for my father told him I was sick iii 
bed. As soon as he left the town, my father told me 
that he was dead, and that I must retire my- 
self into the nunnery, for that was his will : so 
immediately he brought me here, and gave severe 
directions, to the mother-abbess, not to let me see 



TO POPERY. 60 

auY body but himself. Indeed he did sj)are nothing 
to please mc^ till I received the habit, and made the 
profession and vows of a monastical life: after which 
he told me the whole story himself; and the gentleman 
was killed in Catalonia the first campaign. 

I do confess^ that ever since, I did not care what 
should become of me, and 1 have abandoned myself to 
all the sins I have been capable to commit. It is but 
ten months since I made my profession* and bound my- 
self to perpetuity; though as I did it without intention, 
I am not a nun before God, nor obliged to keep the 
vow of religion ; and of this opinion are many other 
nuns, especially ten young ones, my intimate friends, 
who, as well as I, do communicate to one another the 
most secret things of our hearts. 

Each of this assembly has her devoto, and we are 
every day in the afternoon at the grate : we shew^ one 
another the letters we receive from them, and there is 
nothing that we do not invent for the accomjdishment 
of our pleasures. 

Conf. Pray, confess your own vsins, and omit those 
of your friends. 

JS^un, I c^imot, for my sins are so confounded with 
the sins of my friends, that 1 cannot mention the one 
without the other. 

But coming now to my greatest sin ; I must tell you 

that a nun of our assembly has a friar her devoto, the 

most beautiful among men, and we contrived and 

agreed together to bring him into the convent, as we 

did, and have kept him two and twenty days in our 

chamber : during which time wq went to the grate ve- 

r 2 



65 A MASTER-KEY 

ry seklom, on pretence of not being well. We have 
given no scandal, for nobody has suspected the least 
thing in tlie case. And this is the greatest sin ^I have 
committed with man. 

Coiif. Pray, tell me, how could you let him in with- 
out scandal ? 

J\*un. One of the assembly contrived to mat all the 
floor of her chamber, and sent for the mat-maker to 
feke tlie measure of the length and breadth of the room, 
and to make it in one piece, and send it to the sexton's 
chamber, who is a poor ignorant fellow^ When the 
mat was there, and the man paid for it, one day in the 
evening we sent the sexton on several messages, and 
kept tlic key of his room. The fryar had asked leave 
of his prior to go into the country for a month^s time, 
and disguising himself in a layman's habit, feeing well 
two porters, came, in the dusk of the evening, into 
the sextonls roon>, and rolling himself up m the mat, 
the porters brouglit t!ie mat to the door, where we 
were waiting for it; and taking it, we carried it up to 
one of our cluimbers. We w ere afraid that the porters 
^^ould discover the thing, but by money we have se- 
cured oufsehes from them ; for we hired ruffians to 
make away w-ith them. We put him out of the convent 
in a great chest which could be opened on the inside, 
and of which he had the key, and giving the chest to 
^he sexton, he, and tiie servant of the convent^ carried 
it into the sexton's room. We ordered him to leave 
the key at the door, f )r w^e expected some relations, 
\\ ho were to take a collation there ; and we sent him 
en some errand till the fryar liad got out of the cliesf 
ft!ji,d of danger. 



TO POPERY, er 

A month after, tliree of our friends began to perceive 
the condition they were in, and left the convent in one 
night, by which they have given great scandal to the 
city, and we do not know what is become of them ; as 
for me, I design to do the same, for I am under the 
same apprehensions and fear; for I consider, that if I do 
continue in the convent, my big belly will discover me, 
and though one life shall be saved, I shall lose mine by 
the rules of our order in a miserable manner, and not 
only so, but a heavy reflection will fall upon the whole 
order, and the dishonour of my family shall be the 
more public : whereas, if I quit the convent by night, I 
save two lives, and the world will reflect only upon me, 
and then I shall take care to go so far off, that nobody 
shall hear of me ; and as I am sure, in my conscience, 
that I am not a nun, for vrant of intention when I did 
promise to keep obedience, chastity, poverty, and per- 
petuity, I Siiall not incur the crime of apostacy, in 
leaving the convent; and if I do continue in it, I am 
fully resolved to prevent my min and death by a strong 
operating remedy. TJiis is all I have to say^ and I 
do ex\)ect from you not only your advice, but you^, 
assistance too. 

Conf. I do find tlie case so iFitricate, that J want ex- 
perience and learning to resolve what to do in it ; and 
I do tliink it propf^r for you to send for another con- 
fessor of years and learning, and then you siiail have 
the satisfaction of being well directed and advised. 

^nu Now, reverend father, I do tell you positively, 
that i shall never open my heart to another confessor 



^8 A MASTER-KEY 

wliile I live ; ami if you do not advise mc what to do, 
I shall call you before God for it; and now I lay upon 
you whatever may hai)pen in my case. 

Conj. Ignorance will excuse me from sin, and I tell 
you I am ignorant how to resolve the case. 

J\'\tn. I am resolved for all events, and if you refuse 
me this small comfort, I sliall cry out, and say, that 
you have been soFiciting and corrupting me in the ve- 
ry act of confession, and you shall suffer for it in the 
inquisition. 

Conf. Well, have patience, means may be found out: 
and if you give me leave to consult tlie case, 1 shall re- 
solve you about it in three days time. 

JS^uiu How can you consult my case, without expo- 
sing the order, and my reputation too, perhaps, by 
some circumstance? 

Conf. Leave it to me, and be not uneasy about it^ 
and I do promise to come witli the resolution on Suu^ 
day next. 

Mm. Pray, father, if it be possible, come next Mon- 
day morning, and 1 shall be free from company. 

Conf. It is very well: but in the mean time have be- 
fore your eyes the wrath of God against those tlia 
abandon themselves, and forget that he is a living 
God, to punish suddenly great sinners ; and with this> 
farewell. 

My mind was never before so much troubled as it 
was after this case. I was, more by the interest qf 
others, than by my learning, appointed penitentiary 
confessor in the cathedral church of St. Salvator ; and 
as tiic duty of siicli a confessor is to be Q\cry day in 



j 



TO POPERY. 69 

(Le morning, four hours in the confessionary, from 
eight till twelve, except he be called abroad, every bo- 
dy thinks that such a coufessor must be able to resolve 
all cases and difficulties: but it was not so with me; 
for I was young, and without experience. And as 
to this case, the next academical day I proposed it in 
\he following manner : 

There is a person bound by word of mouth, but at 
the same time without intention, nay, with a mind and 
heart averse to it; bound, I say, to obedience, chastity^ 
and poverty. If the person leaves the convent, the crime 
of apostacy is not committed in foro interno ; and if 
the person continues in the convent, the consequence 
is to be a great sin in /oro externo ^'interno* The per- 
son expects the resolution, or else is fully resolved to 
expose the confessor to scandal and personal suffer- 
ings: this is the cxise which 1 humbly lay downbefoi^ 
your learned reverences. 

Tlie president's opinion was, that in such a case, 
the confessor was obliged, in the first place, to reveal 
it in general terms, to the holy inquisitors ; for, said 
he, though this case is not mentionexl in our authors, 
there ai*e others very like this, which ought to be re^ 
yealed, viz. all those that are against either the tem- 
poral or spiritual good of our neighbour, which cases 
are reserved to the bishop or to his deputy; and this 
case, by the last circumsance, being injurious to the 
holy tribunal, the confessor ought to prevent the scan- 
dal which might otherwise fall upon him, to reveal the 
last circumstance. As for the first circumstance of 
the case, in this and others, we must judge Seaunduvi 



7i) A MASTER-KEY 

allegata ^- probata ; and we must suppose, that no pe- 
liitent conies to confess with a lie in his mouth: there- 
fore.^, ii the person affirms that lie was hound without 
iuj^iition, he is free before God : besides, ia rebus dit^ 
His mininium est sequendiim; so, to prevent greater 
evil^ I think the person may be advised to quit the 
convent; and this is agreeable to the pope's dispensa-" 
tions to such persons; when they swear and produce 
witness, that (before they were bound by the vow) 
heard the persons say, they had not intention to it. 

The reverend xMr. Palomo's opinion was, that the 
confessor was to take the safest part, which Vvas to 
advise the penitent to send to Rome for a dispensation, 
which could be obtained by money, or to the pope's 
nuncio, who would give leave to quit the convent for 
six months, upon necessity of preserving or recover- 
ing the bodily health ; and in that time may be the 
person would dissipate some fumes of grief or melan- 
cholic fancies, &c. 

But I did reply to this, that tlie person could not do 
the first, for want of witness, nor the second, for being 
in perfect health, the physician never would grant hi^ 
certificate to be produced before the pope's ;iuncio, 
which is absolutely necessary in such cases ,• and- as 
to revealing the case to the holy inquisitors, it is very 
dangerous, both to the person and the confessor, as 
we could prove by several instances. 

To this, several members being of my opinion, it 
Was resolved, that the confessor, first of all, was to 
absolve the penitent, having a bull of cruzade, and 
ea:tra conjessionemy or out of confession give, as apri- 



TO POPERY. 71 

vate person, advice to the penitent to quit the convent, 
and to take a certificate. Wherein the penitent was 
to specify, that the confessor liad given such advice 
' extra actum covftssionis. The case and resolution was 
entered in the academy's hook. And accordingly, 
Monday following, I went to the nan and performed 
^ what was resolved ; aiul the very same week, we heard 
in the City, that such a nun had made her escape out 
of the convent. 

Two years and a half after this, I saw this very nun 
one day at the court of Lisbon, but I did not speak 
with her, for as I was then dressed like an officer of 
the army, I thought she could not know me ; but I \V as 
mistaken, for she knew me in my disguise as well as 
I did her. The next day she came to my lodgings fol- 
lowed by a lacquey, who, by her orders, had dogged 
me the night before. I was so troubled for fear of be- 
ing discovered, that I thought the best way 1 could 
take Vt as to run aw ay and secure myself in an English 
ship : but by her first words I discovered, that her fear 
was greater than mine ; for after giving me an account 
of her escape out of the convent, and safe delivery, she 
told me that a Portuguese captain happening to quarter 
in the same town where she was, took her away one 
night, and carried her to Barcelona, but that she re- 
fusing to comply with his desires, on any but honor- 
able terms, he had married her and brought her to 
Lisbon : that her husband knew nothing of her having 
been a nun ; that she took another name, and that she 
was very happy with her husband, who was very rich, 
and a man of good sense. She begged me with teai^ 



72 A MASTER-KEY 

in her eyes^ not to ruin her hy discovering any thing 
of her past life. I assured her, that notliing should 
happen on my account, that should disoblige her ; and 
afterwards she asked me, why I w^as not dressed in a 
clerical habit ? To which I desired her to take no no- 
tice of it, for I was there upon secret business, and of 
great consequence, and that as there was nobody there 
who knew me in Zaragossa, it was proper to be dis- 
guised. She desired my leave to introduce me to her 
husband, under the title of a country gentleman, who^j 
was come thither for Charles tlie Third's sake. I 
thanked her, and she went home overjoyed with my 
promise, and I was no less with hers. The next day 
her husband came to visit me, and ever after we visit- 
ed one another almost every day, till I left tliat city. 
This I say, she was a better wife than she had been a 
nun, and lived more religiously in the world, than she 
had done in the cloister of the convent. 

Now I must leave off the account of private cases 
and confessions, not to be tedious to the readers by in- 
sisting too long a time upon one subject. But, as I 
promised to the public, to discover the most secret 
practices of the llomish priests ; in this point of auri- 
cular confession, I cannot dismiss nor put an end to 
this first chapter, without performing my^ promise. 

By the account I have already given of a few pri- 
vate confessions, every body may easily know the 
wickedness of the Romish priests, but more particu- 
larly their covetousness and thirst of money will be de- 
tected by my following observations. 



TO POPERY 7S 

First of all, if a poor coiiiitrymau goes to confess, 
the father confessor takes little pains with him, for, as 
lie expects little or nothing from liim, he heareth him, 
and with bitter words corrects the poor man, and 
most commonly, without any correction, imposing up- 
on him a hard penance, sends him away with the same 
ignorance, he went with to confess, 

2. If a soldier happens to go to make his peace with 
God (so they express themselves when they go to con- 
fess) then the confessor sheweth the power of a spiri- 
tual guide* He questions him about three sins only, 
viz. thefts, drunkenness, and uncleanness. Perhaps 
the poor soldier is free from the two first, but if he is 
guilty of the last, the confessor draws the consequence, 
that he is guilty of all the three, and terrifying him 
with liell, and all the devils, and the fire of it, he charg- 
eth him with restitution, and that he is obliged to give 
so much money for the relief of the souls in purgatory, 
or else he cannot get absolution. So the poor man, 
out of better conscience than his confessor, offers a 
month's pay, whicb must be given upon the spot, (for 
in the shop of confessors there is neither trust nor cre- 
dit) to appease tlie rough, bitter confessor, and to get 
absolution ; and I believe this hard way of using the 
poor soldiers is the reason that they do not care at all 
for that act of devotion ; and as they are so bad custo- 
mers to the confessors' shop, the confessors use their 
endeavours, when they go to buy absolution, to sell it 
as dear as they can ; so they pay at one time for tv/o, 
three or more years. 

G 



ri A MASTER-KEY 

I heard a soldier, damning the confessors, say, ^^ If 
I continue in the king's service twenty years, I will 
not go to confess, for it is easier and cheaper to lift up 
my finger^ and be absolved by our chaplain, than to 
go to a devilish friar, who doth ^lothing but rail and 
grumble at nie, and yet I must give him money for 
masses, or else he will not absolve me: I will give him 
leave to bury me alive, if ever he gets me near him 
again/^ 

If a collegian goes to confess, he finds a mild and 
sweet confessor, and without being questioned, and with 
a small penance he generally gets absolution. The 
reason the confessors have to use the collegians with 
so great civility and mildness, is, first, because if a 
collegian is ill used by his confessor, he goes to a doaf 
friar, who absolves ad dexteram^ ^* ad sinistram^ all 
sorts of penitents for a real of plate ; and after, he in- 
qiif^eth and examineth into all the other confessor^s 
actions, visits and intrigues^ and when he has got 
matter enough, he will write a lampoon on him, which 
happened very often in my time. So the confessor 
durst not meddle with the collegians, for fear that his 
tricks should be brought to light ; and another reason 
is because the collegians, for the generality, are like 



^ The custom of the Sfianifih army in the field, and the 
day before the battle, or before the engagement, the chaplain 
goes through all the companies, to ask the officers whether 
they have a mind to confess, and if one has any thing to say, 
he whispers in the chaplain's ear, and so through all the offi- 
cers. As for the private men : crying out, says, he tiiat has 
a sin, let him lift up his finger, and gives a general absolutioQ 
t© all at once. 



TO POPERY. 75 

ihejilles dejoifs in lent, i. e. witlioiit money, and so the 
confessor cannot expect any profit by them. 

I say, if absolution is denied to a collegian, he goes 
to a deaf confessor; for some confessors are called deaf, 
not because they are really, but because they gire 
small penance without correction ; and never deny ab- 
solution, though the sins be reserved to the pope. I 
knew two Dominican friars, who wer^^known by the 
name of deaf confessors s, because they never used to 
question the penitent. 

Only one of such confessors has more business in 
Lent, than twenty of the others, for he (like our cou- 
ple-beggars, who for six-pence do marry the people) 
for the same sum gives absolution. And for this rea^ 
son all the great and habitual sinners do go to the deaf 
confessor, who gives, upon the bargain, a certificate 
in which he says, that such a one lias fulfilled the com- 
mandineiit of the church, for every body is obliged to 
jjpodiice a certificate of confession to t!ie minister of 
the parish before Easter, or else he must be exposed in 
the chitrch : so as it is a hard thing; for anv old sinner 
to get absolution and a certiffcate from other covetous 
confossors, with.out a great deal of money, they gene- 
rally go to the deaf confessors. 1 had a friend in the 
convent, who told me, t!iat such confessors were oblig- 
ed to give two-thirds of their profit to tlic community, 
and being only two deaf confessors in tljat convent, he 
assured me, that in one Lent, tliey gave to the father 
prior 600 pistoles apiece. I thoug)4 the thing incredi- 
ble, thinking that only poor and debauched people did 
'*use to go to them : but he satisfied me^ saying, that 



re A MASTER-KEY 

rich and poor, men and women, priests and nnns, were 
customers to tliem, and that only the poor and loose 
people used to go to confess in the cliurch ; but as for 
the rich, priests, and nuns, they were sent for by them 
in the afternoon and at night; and that the poor deafs 
had scarcely time to get their rest ; and that when they 
were sent for, the common price was a pistole, and 
,<^ometimes ten pistoles, accordin.^ to the qnality and 
circumstances of the person. And thus much of deaf 
confessors. 

4'. If a friar or a priest comes to confess, Qvery bo- 
dy ought to suppose, that the father confessor has no- 
thing to do, but to give t!io penance, and pronounce 
the words of absolution; for both penitent and confcs. 
s )r, being of the same trade, and of the same corpo- 
ration, or brotherhood ; the fashion of this cloak of ab- 
solution is not paid among them, and they work one 
for another, without any interest, in expectation of the 
sami^ retui'n. 

This must be understood between the friars only, 
not between a friar and secular priest; for these do 
not like one another, and the reason is, because t!ie fri- 
ars, for the generality, are such officious and insinuat- 
ing persons in families, that by their importunities 
and assiduity of visits, they become at last the mas- 
ters of families and goods; so the secular priest hath 
nothing to busy himself with; and observe, that there 
are twenty friars to one secular priest, so the small 
fish is eaten by the great : therefore if it happen some- 
times, upon necessity, that a priest goes to confess to 
a friar, or a friar to a priest, they make use of such 



TO POPERY. 5^? 

n opp u'tuiiity, to exact as miicb as they caii fi^oni 
wHe another. 

I know a good merry priest, wlio had been in com- 
pany witli a friar's devota, i. e. in proper terms, mis- 
tress ; and did jest a little with her : afterwards the 
poor priest having something to confess, and no other 
confessor in his way, but the dt^voto of that devota, he 
was forced to open his lieart to him; but the confes- 
sor was so hard upon him, that he made him pay on the 
nail two pieces of eight, to get absolution. So he did pay 
dear for jesting with the mistress of a friar ; and he 
did protest to me, that if ever it iiappened, that that 
friar should come to confess to him, lie should not go 
away at so cheap a rate. 

This I can aver, that I went to a Franciscan con- 
vent the second day of August, to get tlie indulgences 
of the Jubilee of Porciuncuke^ and my confessor was 
a hard, that ha began to persuade me, he could not 
absolve me without a pistole in hand : I told him^that 
I had not confessed any resei^ed sin, and that he did 
not know I could ruin him : but the friar, knowing 
tliat it was a great scandal, to get up from his feet 
without absolution, insisted upon it; and I was oblig- 
ed, to avoid scandal, to give him his demand. After 
the confession was over, as I had been in a great pas- 
sion at the unreasonable usage of the friar ; I thought 
it was not fit for me to celebrate the mass, without a 
new reconciliation, (as we call the short confession) 
so I went to the father guardian or superior of the 
convent, and confessing that sin of passion, occasioned 
by the covetous usage of such a confessor<, his correc-^ 

g2 



•rs A MASTER-KEY 

tion to me was, to pay down another pistole for scan- 
dalizing both the friar and the Franciscan habit; I 
refused the correction, and went home without the se- 
cond absolution. I had a mind to expose both of them; 
but upon second thoughts I did nothing at all, for fear 
that the whole order should be against me. 

5. If a modest, serious, religious lady comes to con- 
fess, he useth lier irt another way; for he knows that 
such ladies never come to confess, without giving a 
good charity for masses ; so all the confessor-s care is 
to get himself into the lady's favour, which he doth by 
hypocritical expressions of godliness and devotion, of 
humility and strictness of life. He speaks gravely and 
conscientiously, and if the lady has a family, he gives 
her excellent advices, as, to keep her children within 
the limits of sobriety and virtue, for the world is so de- 
eeitful, tliat we ought always to be npon our guard ; 
and to watch continually over our souls, &c. And by 
this means and the like, (the good lady believing him 
^i sincere and devout man) he becomes the guide of her 
soul, of her house and family, and most commonly the 
ruin of her cliildren, and sometimes her own ruin too* 
I will givethefoUowinginstanceto confirm this truth^ 
and as the thing was public, I need not scruple to men- 
tion it with the real names. In the year 1706, F. An- 
tonio Gallardo, Angustin friar^ murdered Donna Isa- 
bella Mendcz, and a child three weeks old sucking at 
her breast. The lady was but twenty-four years of 
age, and had been married eight years to Don Fran- 
cisco Mendez. The friar had been her spiritual guide 
all that while, and all the fat>iily had ^so great a re- 



TO POPERY. 79 

spect and esteem for him, that he was the ahsolutc 
master of the house. The lady was brought to bed;, 
and Don Francisco being obliged to go into the coun- 
try for four days, desired the father to come and lie in 
Ms house, and take care of it in his absence. The fa- 
ther's room was always ready : so he went there the 
same day Don Francisco went into the country. At 
eight at night, both the father and the lady went to 
supper, and after he sent all the maids and seiwants 
into the hall to sup, the lady took the child to give it 
suck ; and the fi'iar told her in plain and short terms, 
his love, and that without any reply or delay, she must 
comply with his request. The lady said to him, father, 
if you propose such a thing to try my faithfulness and 
virtue, you know my conscience these eight years past; 
and if you have any iil design, I will call my family to 
prevent your further assurance. Tiie friar then in a 
fury^ taking a knife, killed the child, and wounded so 
deeply the mother, that she died in two hours after : 
r the friar made his escape ; but w hether he went to his 
convent or not, we did not hear. I myself saw the la- 
dy dead, and went to her burial in the church of tlie 
old St. John. 

6. If a beata goes to confess, which they do every 
day, or at least every second day, then the confessor, 
wiih a great deal of patience, hears her, sure of his 
reward. I cannot pass by, witliout giving a plain de- 
scription of the \Yomcn called beatas, i. e. blessed wo- 
men. These are most commonly tradesmen's wives, 
generally speaking iv^h'^ and of a middle age : but this 
riilQ h^s some exceptions, for there are some beatas 



no A MASTER-KEY 

young and handsome. They arc dressed witli modes- 
ty, and walk with a serious countenance. But since 
their designs, in this outward modesty, were discover- 
ed, they are less in number, and almjstout of fashion, 
since king Philip came to the throne of Spain; for the 
French liberty and freedom being introduced amongst 
the ladies, they have no occasion of stratagems to go 
abroad when they please : so, as the design of a beata 
was to have an excuse, on pretence «f confessson,'to go 
out, snUata causa^ tollitur effectus. 

The coTifessor, I said, of a beata was sure of his 
reward ; for she, watching the living and the dead, useth 
to gather money for masses, from several people, to sa- 
tisfy her confessor for the trouble of hearing her imper- 
tinences every day. A beata sometiiiies makes tlie con- 
fessor believe that many things were revealed to her by 
ihe holy spirit; sometimes she pretends to work mira* 
cles; and by such visions, fancies or dreams, the con- 
fessors fall into horrible crimes before God and the 
world. 

The folloxving instance^ tvhich was jmhlished by the in-* 
quisitors^ will be a testimony of this truth. I give the 
real names of the persons in this account^ because the 
thing was made public. 

In the city of Zaragossa, near the college of St.- 
Thomas of Villaneuva, did live Mary Guerrero, mar- 
ried to a taylor; she was handsome, witty, and ambi- 
tious: but as the rank of a taylor's wife could not 
r.iake her shine among the quality, she undertook the 
life of a beata, tq,be known by it in the city. The first 



TO POPERY. 81 

step sllc was to make was to choose a confessor 
of gooa parts, and of a good reputation among 
the nobility ; so she pitched upon the reverend 
father Fr. Michael NaA^arro, a Dominican friar^fc^. 
was D. D. and a man universally well beloved for his 
doctrine and good behaviour. But, qitando Venus vu 
gilatj Minerva dormit. She began to confess to him, 
and ill less ttian a year, by her feigned modesty, and 
hypocritical airs; and by confessing no sins, but the 
religious exercises of her life; tlie reverend father be- 
gan to publish in the city her sanctity to the highest 
pitch. Many ladies and gentlemen of the first rank, 
desirous to see the newsaint, sent for her, but she did 
not appear, and by her maid gave a denial to alL This 
was a new addition to tlie fame of her sanctity, and a 
new incitement to the ladies to see her. So some, go- 
ing to visit fatiier Navarro, desired the favour of him 
to go along with them, and introduce them to the bles- 
sed G uerrero : but the father, (either bewitched by her, 
or in expectation of a bishoprick, for the making of a 
saint, or the better to conceal his private designs) an- 
swered, that he could not do such a thing; for, know- 
ing her virtue, modesty, and aversion to any act of 
vanity, he should be very much in the wrong, to give 
her opportunities of cooling her fervent zeal and pu- 
rity. 

By that means, rich and poor, old and young, men 
and women, began to resort to her neighbour's house, 
and the Dominican church, only to see tlie blessed 
Guerrero. Slie shewed a great displeasure at these 
popular demonstrations of respect, and resolved to 



82 A MASTER-KEY 

keep close at home ; and after a long consultation with 
the father Navarro^ they agreed that she should keep 
her room, and that he would go to confess her, and say 
mass in her room, for the Dominicans, and the foui' 
mendicant orders, have a privilege for their friars to 
say mass, or as they say, to set an altar every where. 

To begin this new way of living, the father charged 
lier hushand to quit the house;, and nevej^ appear lie« 
fore his wife : for his sight would be a great hindrance 
to iiis wife's sanctity and purity ; and the poor sot, 
believing every thing, went away and took a lodging 
for himself and apprentice. 

They did continue this way of living, both she and 
the father, a whole year; but the fatigue of going eve- 
ry day to say mass and confess the blessed, being too 
great for the reverend, he asked leave from the reve- 
rend father Buenacasa, then prior of the convent, to 
go and live with her as a spiritual guide. The prior, 
foreseeing some great advantage, gave liim leave, and 
so he went for good and all, to be her lodger and mas- 
ter of the house. When tiie father was in the house, 
he began by degrees to give permission to the people 
now and then to see the blessed, through the glass of 
a little window, desiring them not to make a n^ise, for 
fear of disturbing the blessed in her exercise of devo- 
tion : she was in her own room always upon her knees, 
when some people were to see her through the glass, 
which was in the w^all between her room and that of 
the reverend. In a few months after, the archbishop 
w^ent to see her, and conversed with her and the father 
l^favarro, who was in great friendship with, and much 



TO POPERY, "83 

lioiioured by his grace. This example of the prelate 
did pat the nobility in mind to do the same. The vice- 
roy not being permitted by his royal representation to 
go to her. did send his coach one night for her, and 
both the father and the blessed had the honor to sup 
in private witii his excellency: this being spread 
abroad, she was troubled everyday with coaches, and 
presents from all sorts and conditions of people. Ma- 
ny sick went there in hopes of being healed by her 
sight ; and some that happened to go when nature it- 
self was upon the crisis, by the exercise of w-alking, 
or by some other natural operation, finding tliemselves 
better, did use to cry out, a miracle! a miracle! She 
wanted nothing but to be carried on a pedestal upon 
the shoulder's of the ignorant: the fame of her sancti- 
ty was spread so far, that she was troubled every post- 
day with letters from people of quality of other pro- 
vinces, so the reverend was obliged to take a secretary 
under him, and a porter to keep the door ; for they had 
removed to another house of better appearance, and 
more conveniency. Thus they continued for the space 
of two years, and all this while the reverend was writ- 
ing the life of the blessed ; and many times he was 
pressed to print part of her life; but the time of the 
discovery of their wickedness being come, they were 
taken by an order from the holy inquisition. 

The discovery did happen thus. Ann Moron, a chi- 
rurgeon's wife, who lived next door to the blessed, had 
a child of ten months old, and, as a neighbour, she 
went to desire the reverend, to beg of the blessed to 
take the child and kiss him, thinking, that by such an 



84 A MASTER-KEY 

holy kiss, her child would he happy forcA^er. But the 
reverend desiring her to go herself and make the re- 
quest to the hlessed, she did it accordingly. Mary 
Guerrero took the child, and bid the mother leave him 
with her for a quarter of an hour. Ann Moron thought 
then that her child was already in heaven ; hut when 
in a quarter of an hour after slie came again for the 
child, the blessed told her, that her child was to die 
the night ftiUowing, for so God had revealed to her in 
a short prayer she had made for the child. The child 
really died the night following, but the surgeon as a 
tender father, seeing some spots and marks on his 
child's body, opened it, and found in it, the cause of 
its unfortunate death, which was a dose of poison. Up- 
on this suspicion of the child's being poisoned, and tiie 
foreteUing'liis death by the blessed, the father went to 
the inquisitors, and told the nature of the thing. 

Don Pedro Guerrero the first inquisitor was then 
absent, so Don Francisco Torrejon, second inquisitor, 
WPJt himself to examine the thing, and seeing the cliild 
dead, and all the circumstances aginst the blessed, he 
then ordered, that she and the reverend, and all their 
domestic servants, should be secured immediately, and 
sent to the holy inquisition. All things were done ac- 
cordingly, and this sudden and unexpected accident 
made such a noise in town, that everybody did reason 
in his own way, but n^ body dared to speak of the in- 
quisitor. At the same time every thing in the house 
was seized upon, with the papers of the reverend, &c. 
Among the papers was found t!ie life of the hlessed. 



&. 



TO POPERY. 85 

\vritten by father Navarro's own hand. I said in the 
l)eginning, that he was bewitched, and so many peo- 
ple did believe; for it seemed incredible that so learn- 
ed a man as he was in his own religion, should fall 
into so gross an ignorance, as to write such a piece in 
the method it was found composed; for the manuscript 
contained about 600 sheets, which by an order of 
the inquisitors, Avere sent to the qualificators of the 
holy office to be reviewed by them, and to have their 
opinions thereupon. I shall speak of these qualifica- 
tors, when I come to treat of the inquisitors and their 
practices. Now it is sufficient to say, that all the qual- 
ificators, being examinators of tlie crimes committed 
against the holy catholic faith, did examine the sheets, 
and their opinion Vva^,^ that the book entitled, the life 
of ^\e blessed Mary Guerrero, composed by the reve- 
rend father Fr. Michael Navarro w as scandalous, false, 
and against revealed, doctrines in the scripture, and 
good manners, and that it deserved to be burnt in the 
common yard of the holy office, by the mean officer of 
it. 

After this examination was made, the inquisitors 
summoned two priests out of every parish church, and 
two friars out of every convent, to come such a day 
to the hall of the holy tribunal, to be present at the 
trial and examinations against Mary Guerrero, and 
Michael Navarro. It was my turn to go to that trial 
for the cathedral church of St. Balvator. We went the 
day appointed, all the summoned priests and friars to 
the nutnber of a hundred and fifty, besides the inquisi- 
f )rs5 officers of the inquisition, and qualificators, these 
J H 



86 A MASTER-KEY 

had the cross of the holy office before their breasts, 
which is set u])on their habits in a very nice manner. 
The number of qualificators 1 reckoned that day in the 
hall were two hundred and twenty. When all tlie sunv- 
moned were together, and the inquisitors under a ca- 
canopy of black velvet (which is placed at the right 
corner of the altar, upon which was an iriiiage of the 
crucifix, and six yellow wax candles, without any other 
light) they made the signal to bring the prisoners to 
the bar, and immediately they came out of the prison, 
and kneeling down before the holy fathers, the secreta- 
ry began lo read the articles of the examinations and 
convictions of their crimes. 

Indeed both the father and the blessed appeared that 
day very much like saints, if we will believe the Ro- 
man's proverb, that paleness and thin visage is a sign of 
sanctity. The examination, and the lecture of their 
crimes was so long, that we were summoned three 
times more upon the same trial, in which, to the best 
of my memory, I heard the following articles. 

That by the blessed's confession to Michael Navar- 
ro, in the beginning of her life she says thus : ^< 1st. 
that blessed creature knew no sin since she was born 
into the world. 2d. She has been several times visited 
by the angels in her closet^ and Jesus Christ himself 
has come down thrice to give her new heavenly in- 
structions. 3d. She was advised by the divine spouse 
to live separately from her husband, ith. She was once 
favoured with a visit of the holy trinity, and then she 
saw Jesus at the left hand of the father. 5th. The holy 
dove came afterwards and sat npon her head many 



TO POPERY. 87 

fiqies. 6tli. This holy comforter has foretold her, that 
her body after death shall be always incorruptible, and 
that a great king with the news of her deatli, sliall 
come to honor her sepulchre with this motto, ' The soul 
of this warriori^ is the glory of my kingdom.^ 7th. Je- 
sus Christ in a Dominican's habit appeared to her at 
night, and in a celestial dream she was over-shadow- 
ed by the spirit. 8th. She had taken out of purgatory, 
seven times, the soul of her companion's sister. fTFhat 
folly I J 9th. The pope and the whole church shall re- 
joice in her death ; nay, his holiness shall canonize her, 
and put her in the litany before the apostles, &c. Af- 
ter these things lier private miracles were read, &c. 
and so many passages of her life that it woidd be too 
tedious to give an account of them. 1 only write these 
to shew the stupidity of the reverend Navarro, who, 
if he had been in his perfect senses, could not have 
committed so gross an error, [rhis was the pious 
people's opinion,] The truth is, that the blessed was 
not overshadowed by the spirit, but by her confessor; 
for she being at that time with child, and delivered in 
the inqtiisition, one article agciinst the father was, that 
he had his bed near her bed, and that he was the father 
of the new child, or monster on earth. 

Their sentences were not read in public, and what 
was their end We know not; only we heard, that the 
Inisband of the blessed had notice given to him by an 
ofllcer of tlie holy office, that he was at liberty to mar- 
ry to any other he had a fancy for ; and by this true 

* Guerro in Spanish, siguities warrior. 



^ 



38 m^' A MASTER-KEY 

account, the public may easily know the extravagancts 
of the Romish confessors, who, blinded either by their 
own pavssions, or by the subtlety of the wicked beatas, 
do commit so great and heinous crimes, &c. 

There is another sort of beatas, whom we call ende- 
moniadaSf i. e. demoniacks, and by these possessed the 
confessor gets a vast deal of masses. 1 will tell you, 
reader, the nature of the thing, and by it you will see 
the cheat of the confessor and the denioniack. I said 
before, that among the beatas there are two sorts, 
young, and of a middle age, but all married : and that 
the young undertake the way of confessing e\ei'y day, 
or three times a week, to get an opportunity of going 
abroad, and be delivered a while from their husband's 
jealousies : but many husbands being jealous of the 
flies that come near tlieir wives, they scarcely give 
them leave to go to confess. Observe further, that 
those women make their husbands believe, that oiit of 
spite, a witch has given them the evil spirit, and they 
make such unusual gestures, both with tlieir fiices and 
mouths, tliat it is enough to make the world laugh on- 
ly at the sight of them. Wlien they are in the fit of 
the evil spirit, they talk blasphemously against God 
and his saints, they beat husbands and servants ; they 
put themselves in such a sweat, that when the evil spi- 
rit leaves them for a while (as they say) they cannot 
stand upon their feet for very fatigue. The poor de- 
ceived husbands, troubled in mind and body, send for 
a physician ; but he says, he has no remedy for such a 
distemper, and that physic knows no manner of devil, 
and so, their dealing being not with the spirit, but with 



TO POPERY. 89 

the body, he sends the husbaiul to the spiritufil physi- 
cian; and by that means they are, out of a good de- 
sign, procurers for their own wives; for really they 
go to the spiritual father, begging his favour and as- 
sistance to come to exorcise, i. e. to read the prayer 
of the church, and to turn the evil spirit out of his wife's 
body. Then the father makes him understand, that 
the thing is very troublesome, and that if the devil is 
obstinate and positive, he cannot leave his wife for 
three av four nights; and may be, not in a month or 
two ; by wliich he must neglect other business of honor 
and profit. To this the deluded husband promises that 
his trouble shall be well recompensed, and puts a piece 
of gold in his hand, to make him easy ; so he pays be- 
forehand for his future dishonor. Then the father ex- 
orcist goes along v« ith him, and as soon as the wife 
Jiears liis voice, she flies into an unmeasurable fury, 
and cries out, do not let that man (mc^ming the exor- 
cist) come to torment me, as if the devil spoke in her 
and for her. But he takes the hysop with holy wa- 
ter, and sprinkles the room. Here the demoniac tlirow- 
cth herself on the ground, teareth her clothes and hair, 
as if she were perfectly a mad w^oman. Then the 
priest tieth the blessed stola. L e. a sort of scarf, they 
make use of among other ornaments to say mass, up- 
on her neck, and begins the prayers : sometimes the 
devil is very timorous and leaves the creature immedi- 
ately easy; sometimes he is obstinate, and will resist a 
long while before he obeys the exorcisms of the church; 
but at last he retires himself into his own habitation, 

and free^ the creature from his torments ; for they 

H 2 



90 A MASTER-KEY 

say, that the devil or evil spirit, sometimes has his 
place in the head, sometimes in the stomach, sometimes 
in tlie liver, &c. After the woman is easy for a while, 
they go all to take a refreshment, they eat and drink 
the best that can be found in the town. 

A while after, wlien the husband is to mind liis own 
business, the wife, on pretence that the evil spirit be- 
g^ins again to trouble her, goes into her chamber and 
desires the father to hear her confession. They lock 
the door after them, and what they do for an hour or 
two, God only knows. These private confessions and 
axercises of devotion continue for several months togc- 
Wier, and the husband, loth to go to bed with his wife, 
for fear of the evil spirit, goes to another chamber, 
and the father lieth in the same room with his wife, on 
a field bed, to he always ready, when the malignant 
spirit comes, to exorcise, and beat him with the holy 
sfola. So deeply ignorant are the people in that part of 
the world, or so great bigots, tbat on pretence of reli- 
gious^remedies to cure their wives of the devilish dis- 
temper, they contract a worse distemper on their heads 
and honors, which no physician, either spiritual or 
eorporal, can ever cure. 

>Vhen in a month or two, the father and the demo- 
jaiack have settled matters between themselves, for the 
tiiue to come, he tells the husband, that the devil is in 
a great measure tamed, by the daily exorcisms of the 
holy mother the church, and that it is time for him to 
retire, and mind other business of his convent; and 
that, it being impossible for him to continue longer in 
bis house, all he can do, is to serve him and her in his 



TO POPERY. &1 

convent, if she goes tliere every day. The husband, 
with a great deal of thanks, pays the father for Iiis 
trouble, who taking his leave goes to his community, 
and gives the father prior two parts of the money, for 
the third part is allowed to liiui for his own pains. 
The day following, in the morning, the demoniack is 
worse than she was before: then the husband, out of 
faith, and zeal of a good christian, cries out, the father 
is gone, and the devil is loose: the exorcisms of the 
church are not ready at hand, and the evil spirit thinks 
himself at liberty, and begins to trouble the poor crea* 
ture : let us send her to the convent, and the bold ma- 
lignant spirit shall pay dear for tliis attempt. So the 
wife goes to the father, and the father takes her into a 
little room, next to the vestry, a place to receive their 
acquaintance only of the female sex, and there loth in 
private, the father appeases the devil, and the woman 
goes quiet and easy to her house, where she continues 
in the same easiness till the next morning. Then the 
devil begins to trouble her again; and the husband says 
O obstinate spirit ! you make all this noise because the 
liour of being beaten w^ith tlie holy stda is near: I 
know that your spite and malice against t!ie exorcisms 
of tlie church is great; but tlieir power is greater tlian 
thine: go, go to the father, and go tlirough all the 
stola. So the woman goes again to the father, and in 
this manner of life they continue for a long while. 

There is of these beatas in every convent church, 
iiot a few^ for sometimes one of those exorcists keeps 
six, and sometimes ten, by whom, and their husbands, 
he is yerj v/ell paid for tlie trouble of confessing them 



92 A MASTER. KEY 

every day, and for tami!?g the devil ; but tiiQ in ost plea- 
sant thing' among these dcmoiiiackvS is, that they 
have diiTerent devils that trouble them; for by a strict 
commandment of the father, they are forced to tell their 
names ; so one is called Belzebnb, another Lucifer, &c. 
And those devils are very jealous one of another, I 
saw several times, in tlie body of the church, a battle 
among three of these demoniacks, on pretence of being 
in the fit of the evil spirit, threatening and beating one 
another, and calling one another nicknames, till the 
father came with the hysop, holy water, and the stola, 
to appease them, and bid them to be silent, and not to 
make such a noise in the house of the Lord. And the 
whole matter was, as we knew afterwards, that the 
father exorcist was more careful of one, than of the 
others; and jealousy, which is the worse devil, getting 
into their heads, they give it to their respective devils, 
who, with an infernal fury, did figlit one against ano- 
ther, out of pet and revenge for the sake of their lodg- 
ing room. 

In the city Huesca, (where, as they believe, Pontius 
Pilate was professor of law in the university, and his 
chair, or part of it, is kept in the bisliop's palace lor 
a s1k)w and a piece of antiquity) I saw and conversed, 
both with the father exorcist and thebeata demoniack 
about the following instance. 

The thing being not publicly divulged, but among 
a few persons, I will give an account of it under the 
names of father John and Dorothea. This Dorothea 
>hen thirteen years old, was married^ against her in- 
clination, to a tradesman fifty years old. The beauty 



TO POPERY. 93 

of Dorothea and the ugliness of her husband were ve- 
ry great, the one adoiired, and the other observed by 
all the inhabitants of the city. The bishop's secretary 
made the match, and read the ceremony of the church, 
for he was the only executor of her father's will and 
testament : she was known by the name of Young 
Dancing Eyes. Her husband was jealous of her, ia 
the highest degree j she could not go out without him, 
and so she suffered this torment for the space of tiiree 
years. She had an aversion, and a great antipathy 
against him. Her confessor was a young, well-shaped 
friar, and either out of her own contrivance, or by the 
friar's advice, one day, unexpected by her husband, 
the devil was detected and manifested in her. What 
af&iction this was to the old, amorous, jealous husband, 
is inexpressible. The poor man went himself to the 
Jesuit's college, next to his house, for an exorcist, but 
the Jesuit could do nothing to appease tliat devil, to 
the great surprise of the poor husband and many others 
too, who do believe, that a Jesuit can command and 
overcome the devil himself, and that the devils are 
more afraid of a Jesuit, than of their sovereign prince 
in hell. 

The poor husband sent for many others, but the ef* 
feet did not answer to the purpose 5 till at last her own 
confessor came to her, and after many exorcisms, and 
private prayers, she was (or the devil in her) pacified 
for a while. This was a testimony of the father John's 
fervent zeal and virtue to thj husband, so they settled 
how the case was to be n.anaged for the future. Friar 
John was very w ell recompensed upon the bargain | 



9^ A MAS^rER^KKY 

and both the (lemoiiiack and friar Jobyi eontinued in 
daily battle Avith the evil spii it for two years together. 
The husband began to sleep quiej; and easy^ thinking 
that his wife, having the devil in her body, was not 
able to be unfaithfi.] to him ^ for while the malignant 
torments the body, the woman begins to fast in public 
and eat in private with the exorcist; and the exercises 
of such demoniacks are all of prayers and devotion, so 
the deceived husband believes that it is better to have 
51 demoniack wife, than one free from the evil spirit. 

The exorcisms of friar John being not to appease a 
spiritual, but a material devil, he and Dorothea were 
both discovered, and foiuid in the fact, by a friar 
of tlie same convent, who, by many presents from fri- 
ar John and Dorothea, did not reveal the thing to the 
prior ; but he told it to some of his friends, which were 
enemies to friar John, from whom I heard the story. 
For my part, I did not believe it for a while, till at 
last I knew, that the friar John was removed iiito ano- 
ther convent, and that Dorothea left her house and 
husband, and went after him; though the husband en- 
deavoured to spread abroad, that the devil had stolen 
Lis wife. These are the effects of the practices of the 
demoniacks and exorcists. 

JVow I come to the persons in public authoritiif either in 
ecclesiasticaU civile or inilitartj affairs^ and to the la- 
dies of the first quality or rank in the world. Jls to 
those 9 I must beg leave to tell the truths as well as of 
the inferior people. Bntf because the confessors of such 
persons are most commonly Jesuiis, it seems very 



ro P0PER1» 95 

i-.piQpos to gi<:^ it description of those fathers^ their 
practices and lives^ and to write of them^ to the best 
of my knowledge and memory^ what I know to be the 
matter of fact. 

Almost in all tlie Roman catholic countries, the Je- 
suit fathers are the teachers of the Latin tongue, and 
to this purpose, tliey have in every college (so they 
call their convents) four large rooms, w hich are callwl 
the four classes for tlie grammar. There is one teacher 
in each of them. The city corporation, or politic bo- 
dy, paying the rector of the Jesuits so much a year, 
and the young gentlemen are at no expence at all for 
learning the Latin tongue. The scholars lodge in 
town, and they go every day, from eight in the morn- 
ing till eleven, to the college ; and when the clock 
vStrikes eleven, they go along with the four teachers to 
hear mass : they go at two in the afternoon, till half 
after four, and so they do all the yearlong, except the 
holy-days, and the vacations from the fifteenth of Au- 
gust till the ninth of September. x\s the four teachers 
receive nothing for their trouble, because the payment 
of the city goes to the community, they have contrived 
how to be recompensed for their labour : there were 
in the college of Zaragossa, when 1 learned Latin, ve- 
ry near six hundred scholars, noblemen, and trades- 
men's sons, every one was to pay every Saturday a 
real of plate for the rule (as they call it.) There is a 
custom, to have a public literal act once every day, to 
'v\hich are invited the young gentlemen's parents, but 
iione t)f ihe common people* The father rector and 



96 A MASTER-KEY 

all the community are present, and placed in their vel- 
vet chairs. To the splendid performance of this act. 
the four teachers choose twelve gentleman, and each of 
them is to make, by heart, a Latin speech in the pul- 
pit. They choose besides the tweJve, one emperor, two 
kings, and two prjetors, which are always tue most 
noble of the young gentkmen : they wear crowns on 
their heads that day, which is the distinguishing char- 
acter of their learning. The emperor sits under a cano- 
py, the pr^tors on each side, the kings a step lower and 
the twelve senators in two lines next to the throne. 
This act lasts three hours ; and after all is over, the 
teachers and the father rector, invite the nobility and 
tlic emperor, with the praetors, kings and senators, to 
go to the common hall of the college, lo take a re- 
fresliment of . the most delicious sweet-meats and 
test liquors. Tlte fathers of the emperor, kings, prae- 
tors and senators, are to pay for all the charges and 
expences, whicli are fixed to be a liundred pistoles ev- 
ery montli. And every time there are new emperors 
or kings, &c. by moderate computation, we were sure, 
that out of the remainder of the hundred pistoles a 
month, and the real of plate every week from each of 
the scholars, the four father teachers had clear, to be 
divided among themselves every year, sixteen hundred 
pistoles. 

We must own, that the Jesuits are very fit, and the 
most proper persons for the education of youth, and 
that all these exercises and public acts, (though for 
tlieir interests) are great stimulations and incitements 
to learning in young gentlemen; for one of them will 



TO POPERY* 97 

study night and day only to get the empty title of em- 
peror, &€• once in a month ; and their parents are ve- 
ry glad to expend eight pistoles a year, to encourage 
their sons ; and besides that, they believe that they 
are under a great obligation to the Jesuits' college, and 
the Jesuits, knovting their tempers, become not only 
acquainted with them, but absolute masters of their 
houses: I must own likewise, that I never heard of 
any Jesuit father, any thing against good manners or 
christian conversation ; for really, they behave them- 
selves, as to outward appearance, with so great civi- 
lity, modesty and policy, that nobody has any thing to 
say against their deportment in the world, except self- 
interest, and ambition. 

And really the Jesuits' order is the richest of all the 
orders in Christendom ; and because the reason of it is 
not well known, I will tell now the ways by which they 
gather togetlier so great treasures every where. As 
they are universal teachers of the Latin tongue, and 
have this opportunity to know tlie youth, they pitch 
npon the most ingenious young men, and upon the 
richest of all, though they be not very witty : they 
spare neither time, nor persuasions, nor presents, to 
persuade them to be of tlie society of Jesus (so they 
name their order :) the poor and ingenious are very 
glad of it, and the noble and rich too, thinking to be 
great men upon the account of their quality : so their 
colleges are composed of witty and noble people* By 
the noble gentlemen they get riches; by the witty and 
ingenious, they support their learning, and breed up 
teachers and great men to govern the consciences of 

I 



9H A MASTER-KEY 

princes, people in public authority, and ladies of the 
first rank. 

They do not receive ladies in private, in their col- 
leges, but always in the middle of the church or cha- 
pel j they never set down to hear them. They do not 
receive charity for masses, nor beatas, nor demoniacks 
in their church, (I never saw one there) their modes- 
ty and civil manners charm every one that speaks with 
them ; though, I believe, all that is to carry on their 
private ends and interests. They are indefatigable in 
procuring the good of souls, and sending missionaries 
to catechise the children in the country ; and they have 
fit persons in every college for all sorts of exercises, 
either of devotion, of law, or policy, &c. They enter- 
tain nobody within the gate of the college, so nobody 
knows what they do among themselves. If it some- 
times happen that one doth not answer their expec- 
tation, after he has taken the habit, they turn him out ; 
for they have fourteen years trial : but as soon as they 
turn him out, they underhand procure a handsome set- 
tlement for him ; so he that is expelled dareth not 
say any thing against them, for fear of losing his bread. 
And if, after he is out, he behaves himself well, and 
gets some riches, he is sure to die a Jesuit. 

I heard of Don Pedro Segovia, who had been a Je- 
suit and was turned out ; but by the Jesuits' influence, 
he got a prebendary in the cathedral church, and was 
an eminent preacher. He was afterwards constantly 
visited by them, and when he came to die, he asked 
again the habit, and it being granted to him, he died a 
Jesuit, and by his death the Jesuits became heirs of 
twenty thousand pistoles in money and lands. 



TO POPERY. 9a 

There are confessors of kings and princes, of minis- 
ters of state, and generals, and of all the people of dis- 
tinction and estates. So, it is no wonder if they are 
masters of the tenth part of the riches in every king- 
dom, and if God doth not put a stop to their covetous 
ness, it is to he feared, that one way or other, they will 
become masters of all; for they do not seek dignities, 
being prohibited by the constitutions of their order to 
be bishops, and popes ; it only is allowed to them to 
be cardinals, to govern the pope by that means, as well 
as they do rule emperors, kings and princes. At this 
present time all the sovereigns of Europe have Jesuits 
for their confessors. 

Now it is high time to come to say something as to 
their practices in confessions ; and I will only speak 
of those I knew particularly welL 

First, the reverend father Navasques, professor of 
divinity in their college, was chosen confessor of the 
countess of Fuentes, who was left a widow at twenty- 
four years of age. This lady, as well as other per- 
sons of quality, kept a coach and servant for the fa- 
ther confessor. He has always a father companion to 
say mass to the lady. She alloweth so much a year 
to the college, and ^o much to her confessor and his 
companion. All persons h^ve an oratory or chapel in 
their houses, by dispensation from the pope, for which 
they pay a great deal of money. Their way of living 
is thus: in the morning they send the coach and ser- 
vant to the college, most commonly at eleven o'clock: 
the father goes everyday at that time, and the lords 
and ladies do not confess e\Qvy day; they have mass 



XOO A MASTER-KEY 

said at home, and after mass, the reverend stays in 
the lady's company till dinner-time ; then he goes to 
the college till six in the evening, and at six goes again 
to see the lady, or loi*d, till eleven. What are their 
discourses I do not know : this I know, that nothing 
is done in the family without the reverend's advice 
and approbation : so it was with the countess's family, 
and when she died, the college got four thousand pis-r 
toles a year from her. 

The reverend father Muniessa, confessor of the 
dutchess of Villahermosa, in the same mannei* got, at 
her death, thirty thousand pistoles, and the reverend 
father Aranda, confessor to the countess of Aranda, 
got two thousand pistoles, yearly rent from her, all 
for the college. Now what means they make use of 
to bewitch the people and to suck their substance, eve- 
ry body may think, but nobody may guess at. An in- 
genious politician was asked, how the Jesuits could be 
rightly described and defined, and he gave this defi- 
nition of them. Amicifrigid^ <^ inimici calid'h i. e. cold 
friends and warm enemies. And this is all I can 
write concerning their manners and practices. 

Before I dismiss tlds subject, I cannot pass by one 
instance more, touching the practices of confessors in 
general, and that is, that since I came to these north- 
ern countries, I have been told by gentlemen of good 
sense, and serious in their conversation, that many 
priests and friars were procurers (when they were in 
those parts of the world) and did shew them the v/ay 
of falling into the common sin. No doubt they know 
all the lewd women by auricular confession, but I could 



TO POPERY. 4 01 

not believe they would be so villainous and base, as to 
make a show of their wickedness before strangers. 
This [ must say in vindication of a great many of them 
(for what I do write is only of the wicked onef?) that 
they are many times engaged in some inti^igues un- 
known to themselves, and they are not to be blamed^ 
but only the persons who with false insinuations, do 
make them believe a lie for a truth, and this, under a 
pretence of devotion. To clear this I will tell a story,N^ 
which was told me by a colonel in the English service, 
who lives at present in London. 

He said to me, that an officer, a friend of his, was 
prisoner in Spain v his lodgings were opposite to a 
counsellor's house. The counsellor was old and jea- 
lous, his lady young, handsome and confined, and the 
officer well shaped and very fair. The windows and 
balconies of the connsellor were covered w^ith narrow 
lattices, and the officer never saw any woman of that 
house : #ut the lady, who had several times seen hiift 
at his window, could not conceal long her love, so she 
sent for her father confessor, and spoke to him in the 
following manner : •« My reverend father, you are my 
spiritual guide, and you must prevent the ruin of my 
soul, reputation and quietness of my life. Over the 
way lives an English officer, who is constantly at the, 
window, making signs and demonstrations of love to 
me, and thongh I endeavour not to haunt my balcony, 
for fear of being found out by my spouse, my wait- 
pg maid tells me that he is always there. You know 
my spotiso's temper and jealousy, and if he observes 



L 



102 A ]VtAS TER-KEY 

the least thing in the world, I am undone forever, So^ Jj 
to i)ut a timely stop to this, I beg you would be so kind I 
as to go over and desire him to make no more signs ; 1 
and that if he is a gentleman, as he seems to be, he ne- 
ver will do any thing to disquiet a gentlewoman/^ The 
credulous confessor, believing every syllable, went 
over to the English officer, and told him the message, 
asking his pardon for tlie liberty he took ; but that 
he could not help it, being, as he was, the lady's con- 
fessor. 

The officer, who was of a fiery temper, answered 
him in a resolute manner. Hear, friar, said he to the 
confessor, go your way, and never come to me with 
such false stories, for I do not know what you say, nor m 
I never saw any lady over the way. The poor father, 
full of shame and fear, took his leave, and went to de- 
liver the answer to the lady. What, said she, dotli he 
deny the truth ? I hope God will prove ippinnocency 
before you, and that before two days. The father 
comforted her, and went to his convent. The lady 
seeing her design frustrated this way, contrived ano- 
ther to let the officer know her inclination : so one of 
^r servants wrote a letter to her in the officer's name,|| 
wit^manv lovely expressions, and desiring her to beS^ 
in her garden, at eight in the dark evenirig, under a 
fig-trec next to tiie walls. And recommending to hei- 
servant the secret, sealed the letter directed to her. 
Two days after she sent for her confessor again ; and 
told him, •< Now my reverend father, God has put 
letter from the officer, into my hands, to convince him" 
and you of the tviitb. Tray take the letter, and go to 



m 1 



TO POPERi\ lOS 

him, and if he denies^ as he did before, sh cw him his 
own letter, and I hope he will not be so bokl as to 
trouble me any more.'' He did it accordingly, and the 
English gentleman answered as the first time; and a 
he flew into a passion, the father told him, '' sir, see 
tliis letter, and answer me;'^ which the officer read- 
ing, soon understood the meaning, and said. Now my 
good father, I must own my folly, for I cannot deny 
my hand- writing, and to assure you, and the lady, that 
1 shall be a quite different man for the future, pray 
tell her that I will obey her commands, and that 
1 \Vill never do any thing against her orders. 
The confessor very glad of so unexpected good suc- 
cess, as he thought, gave the answer to the lady, add- 
ing to it, now madam, you may be quiet, and without 
any fear, for he will obey you. Did not I tell you, 
said she, that he could not deny the fact of the letter? 
So the confessor went home, having a very good opi- 
"^nion of the lady, and of the officer too, who did not 
fail to go to the rendezvous. 

Every serious, religious man will rather blame the 
wicked lady, than the confessor; for the poor man^ 
though he were a procurer and instrument of bringing 
that intrigue to an effect, really was innocent all 
the while; and how could he suspect any thing of 
wantonness in a lady so devoutly affected, and so 
watchful of the ruin of her soul, honor, and quietness 
of her life ? We must excuse them in such a case as 
tliis was, and say, that many confessors, if they are 
procurers, do it unknown to themselves, and out 
of pure zeal for the good of the soids, or to prevent 



104 A MASTER-KEY 

many disturbances in a family : but as for tliose that, 
out of wickedness, busy themselves in so base and vil- 
lainous exercises, I say, heaven and earth ought to 
rise in judgment against them. They deserve to be 
punished in this world, that by their example, tlie 
same exercise might %e prevented in othei^s. 

I have given an account of some private confessions 
of both sexes, and of the most secret practices of some 
of the Roman catholic priests, according to wliat I 
promised the public in my printed proposals. And 
from all that is written and said, I crave leave to draw 
some few inferences. 

First, I say that the pope and councils are the origi- 
nal causes of the aforesaid misdoings ami ill practices 
of the Romish priests : marriage being forbidden to a 
pi-iest, not by any commandment of God or divine 
scripture, i)ut by a strict ordinance from the pope, an 
indisputable canon of the council. This was not prac- 
tised by them for many centuries after the death of our 
Saviour; ami the priests were then more religious, and 
exemplary than they arc iiow. I know the reasons 
their church liath for it, which I will not contradict, 
to avoid all sort of controversy : but this I may say, ii 
that if the priests, friars and nuns, were at lawful lib- 
erty to marry, they v^ould be better christians, tlic 
people richer in honor and estates, the kingdom better 
peopled, the king stronger, and the Romish religion 
more free from foreign attempts and caiunmies. 

They do make a vow of chastity, and they break it 
by living loose, lewd, and irregular lives. They vow 
poverty, ami tiieir thirst . for riches is unquenchable^ 



TO POPERY. lOS 

and whatever* tliey get is most commonly by unlawful 
means: They swear obedience, and they only obey 
their lust^^ passions and inclinations. How many sins 
are occasioned by binding themselves with these three 
vows in a monastical life ? It is inexpressible, and all, 
or the greater number of sins committed by them, 
would be hindered, if the pope and council were to 
imitate the right fomidatious of the primitive churchy 
and the apostles of Jesus Christ our Saviour. 

As to particular persons among the priests and fri- 
ars, touching their corruptions and ill practices in au- 
ricular confession, I say, they do act against divine 
and human law in such practices, and are guilty of se-- 
veral sins, especially sacrilege and robbery. It is 
true, the Moral Summs are defective in the instruction 
of confessors, as opinions, grounded in the erroneous 
principles of their church: but as to the settled rules 
for the guiding and advising the penitent, what he 
ought to do to walk uprightly, they are not defective;; 
so the confessors cannot plead ignoramus for so doing, 
and consequently the means they make use of in the 
JL tribunal of conscience, are all sinful, being only to de- 
Bceive and cheat the poor ignorant people. 
P Their practices, then, are against divine and human 
law, contrary to holy scriptures, nay, to humanity it- 
self: for, thou that teachest another, ^^thou shalt not 
kill; nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor covet thy 
neighbour's goods nor wife:'' dost thou all those things? 
and to insist only on sacrilege and robbery. What can 
it be but robbery, and sacrilege, to sell absolution, or 
which is the same thing, to refuse it to the penitent/ 
if be doth not give so much money for masses? 



106 A MASTER-KEY 

This may be cleared by tlieir own principles, and 
by the opinions of their casuistical authors, who do 
agree in this, viz. That there are three sorts of sacri- 
lege, or a sacrilege wliich may be committed three dif- 
ferent ways. These are the expressions they make 
use of. Sacrum in siicro : sacrevi ex sarcro : sacrem 
pro sacro. That is, to take a sacred thing for a sacred 
thing, a sacred thing in a sacred place : and a sacred 
thing out of a sacred place. All these three are rob- 
bery and sacrilege together, according to their opini- 
ons ; and I said that the confessor in their practices are 
guilty of all three ; for in their opinion, the holy tribu- 
nal of conscience is a sacred thing ; the absolution and 
consecrated church are sacred likewise. As for the 
money given for the relief of the souls in purgatory, 
Corella in his Moral Sum says, that that is a sacred 
thing too. Now it is certain among them, that no 
priest can receive money for absolution directly nor 
indirectly : those then that take it, do rob tliat money 
wliich is unlawfully taken from the penitent; and it is 
a sacrilege too, because they take a sacred thing for a 
sacred thing ; viz, , the sacred money for masses, taken 
for absolution. They take that sacred thing in a sa- 
cred place, viz. in the sacred tribunal of conscience : 
and they take a sacred thing out of a sacred place, viz, 
the church. 

Again: though most commonly ^ ^uodcum que liga- 
vens super terram^ ent ligatnm ^ in coelis^ is under- 
stood by them literally, and the pope usurps the pow- 
er of absolving men without contrition, provided they 
have attrition, or only confession by mouth, as we. 



TO POPERY. 107 

shall see in the following chapter of the pope's bull ; 
nevertheless the casuits, when they come to treat of a 
perfect confession under the sacrament of penance, 
they unanimously say, that three things are absolute- 
ly necessary to a perfect confession, and to salvation 
too, viz. Oris confession cordis contritio^ and operis satis- 
factio. Though at the same time they say, except in 
case of pontifical dispensation with faculties, privi- 
leges, indulgences, aiul pardon of all sins committed 
by a man : but though they except this case, I am sure 
tli<^y do it out of obedience and flattery, rather than 
their own belief. If they then believe, that without 
contrition of heart the absolution is of no effect, why 
do they persuade the contrary to the penitent ? Why 
do they take money for absolution ? It is, then, a cheat, 
robbery, and sacrilege. 

Secondly. I say, that the confessors, generally 
speaking, are the occasion of the ruin of many fami- 
lies, of many thefts, debaucheries, murders, and divi- 
sions among several families, for which they must an- 
swer before that dreadful tribunal of God, wlien, and 
where all their secret practices and wickedness, shall 
be disclosed ; add to this, that by auricular confession 
they are acquainted with the tempers and inclinations 
of people, which contribute very much to heap up rich- 
es, and to make themselves commanding masters of all 
sorts of persons ; for when a confessor is thoroughly 
acquainted with a man's temper and natural inclina- 
tions, it is the most easy thing in the world to bring 
him to liis own opinion, and to be master over him and 
his substance. 



108 A MASTERKEY 

That the confessors, commonly speaking, ftre tlie 
occasion of all the aforesaid mischiefs, will appear by 
the following observations. 

First, They get the best estates from the rich peo- 
ple, for the use and benefit of their communities, by 
which many private persons and whole families, are 
reduced and ruined. Observe now their practices as 
to the sick. If a nobleman of a good estate is very 
ill, the confessor must be by him night and day ; and 
when he goes to sleep his companion supplies his place, 
to direct and exhort the sick man to die as a good 
christian, and to advise him how to make his last will 
and testament. If the confessor is a downright honest 
man, he must betray his principles of honesty, or dis- 
oblige his superior and all the community, by getting 
nothing from the sick; so he charges upon the poor 
man's conscience to leave his convent thousands of 
masses, for the speedy delivery of his soul out of pur- 
gatory; and besides that, to settle a yearly mass for 
ever upon the convent, and to leave a voluntary gift, 
that the frinrs may remember him in their public and 
private p lyers, as a benefactor of that community : 
and in these and other legacies, and charities, three 
^arts of his estate goes to the church, or convents. 
But if the confessor has a large conscience, then with-* 
out any christian consideration for the sick man's fa- 
mily and poor relations, he makes use of all the 
means an inliuman, covetous man can invent to get 
the whole estate for his convent. And this is the rea- 
son why they are so rich, and so many families so 
poor, reduced, and ruined. 



TO POPERY. ±09 

{"rom these we may infer thefts, murders, dehauch- 
mes, and divisions of families. I say, the confessors 
are the original cause of all these ill consequences ; 
for when they take the best of estates for themselves j 
110 wonder if private persons and whole families are 
left in such want and necessity, that they abandon 
themselves to all sorts of sins, and liazards of losing 
both lives and honors, rather than to abate something 
of their pride. 

I might prove this by several instances, which, I do 
not question, are very well known by many curious 
people ; and tiiough some malicious persons are apt to 
suspect, that such instances are mere dreams, or forg- 
eries of envious people, for my part I do believe, that 
many confessors are the original causes of the afore- 
^said evils, as may be seen by the following matter of 
fact. 

In the account of the Jesuits and their practices, I 
said, that the reverend Navasques was the confessor 
of the countess of Fuentes, who was left a widow at 24« 
years of age, and never married again : for the reve- 
rend's care is to advise them to live a single life. (Pu- 
rity being tlie first step to heaven-) The lady countess 
had no children, and had an estate of her own, of 4000 
pistoles a year, besides her jewels and household goods, 
which, after her death, were valued at 15000 pistoles. 
All these things, and her personal estate, were left to 
the Jesuits' college, though she had many near relati- 
ons, among whom I knew two young gentlemen, se- 
cond cousins of her ladyship, and two young ladiea 
kept in her house as her cousins also. She had pro-^ 

K 



110 A MASTER-KEY 

mised to give them a settlement suitable to their qual- 
ity and merits; which promise the father confessor 
confirmed to them several times: but the lady died, and 
both the young ladies and the two young gentlemen 
were left under the providence of God, for the count- 
ess had forgotten them in her last will: and the father 
confessor took no notice of them afterwards. The two 
young ladies did abandon themselves to all manner of 
private pleasures at first, and at last to public wicked- 
ness. As to the young gentlemen, in a few montlis 
after the lady's death, one left the city and went to 
serve the king, as a cadet ; the other following a li- 
centious life, was ready to finisli his days with shame 
and dishonor on a public scaffold, had not the good- 
ness and compassion of the marquis of Camarassa, 
then vice-roy of Arragon, prevented it. Now, whe- 
ther the father confessor shall be answerable before 
God, for all the sins committed by the young ladies, 
and one of the gentlemen, for want of what they ex- 
pected from the countess, or not, God only knows : 
we may tliink and believe, that if the ladv had provi- 
ded for them according to their condition in the world, 
in all human probability, they had not committed such 
sins : or if the college, or the reverend father had been 
more charitable, and compassionate to the condition- 
they were left in, they had put a timely stop to their 
wickedness. 

Thirdly. I say, that confessors and preachers arc 
the occasion, that many thousands of young men and 
women clioose a single^ retired life, in a monastery, or 
convent; and therefore are the cause of many families 



TO POPERY. Hi 

being extinguished, and their own treasures exceed- 
ingly increased. 

If a gentlonian has two or three sons, and as many 
daughters, the confessor of the far. dy adviseth the fa- 
ther to keep the eldest son at hc^.ue, and send the rest> 
hoth sons and daughters, into convent or monastery ; 
praising the monastical life, i \ A saying, that to be re- 
tired from the world, is thi. safest way to heaven. 
There is a proverb which rur« thus in English : It is 
better to be alone than in bac^ rompany. And the con- 
fessors do alter it thus : It is better to be alone, than 
in good company. Which they pretend to prove with 
many sophistical arguments, nay, with a passage 
from the scripture; and this not only in private con- 
versation, but publicly in the pulpit. I remember I 
heard the celebrated Mr. F. James Garcia preacii a 
^sermon upon the subject of a retired life, and solitude, 
which sermon and others preached by him in Lent, iu 
the cathedral cliurch of St. Salvator, were printed af- 
terwards. The book is in folio, and its title quadra' 
gesima de gracia. He wi.s tlie first preacher 1 liearcl 
make use of the above proverb, and alter it in the 
aforesa.id way; and to prove the sense of itis alterati- 
on he said, " Remember the woman in the apocaiyp- 
sis that ran from heaven into the desert. What ! was 
not that woman in heaven, in the company of the stars 
and planets, by which are represented all the heaven- 
ly spirits ? Why then quits she that good company, 
and chooses to be alone in a desert place? because 
(said he) that woman is the holy soul, and for a soul 
that dcsircth to be holy, it is better to be alone than in 



112 A MASTER-KEY 

good cottipany. In tlie desert, in the convent, in the 
monastery, tlie soul is safe, free from sundry tempta- 
tions of the world ; and so it belongs to a christian 
soul, not only to run from bad company, but to quit 
the best company in the world and retire into tlie de- 
sert, in the convent, or monastery, if that soul dcsireth 
to be holy and pure." This was his proof; and if he 
had not been my master, 1 would have been bold to 
make some reflections upon it : but the respect of a 
disciple, beloved by him, is enough to make me silent, 
and leave to the reader the satisfaction of reflecting in 
his own way, to which I heartily submit. 

These, I say, are the advices the confessors give to 
the fathers of families, who, glad of lessening the ex- 
pences of the house, and of seeing their children pro- 
vided for, do send them into the desert place of a con- 
vent, which is really in the middle of the world. Now 
observe, that it is twenty to one, that their heir dieth 
before he marrieth and have children; so the estrtte 
and every thing falls to the second, who is a profes- 
sed friar or nun^ and as they cannot use the expressi- 
on of meum or tuum, all goes that way to the commu- 
nity. And this is the reason, why many families are 
extinguished and their names quite out of memory; 
the convent so crowded, the kingdom so thin of peo- 
ple: and the friars, nuns and monasteries so rich. 

Fourthly. I say, that the confessors, priests, and 
especially friars, make good this saying among the 
common people: Fnjle^ ofraudees todo iinoi i. e. Fri- 
ar or fraud is the same thing; for they not only de- 
fraud whole families, but make use of barbarous, inhu#- 
man means to get the estates of many rich persons. 



TO rOPERY, 113 

Tlie marquis of Aruio had one only (laiighler, and 
his second brother was an Augustine friar, under 
whose care the marquis left liis daughter when he di- 
ed. She vvas fifteen years of age, rich and handsome. 
Her uncle and executor was at tliat time doctor, and 
professor of divinity in the university, and prior of 
the convent, and could not personally take care of his 
niece and her family j so he desired one of her aunts 
to go and live with her, and ser^t another friar to be a 
steward and overseer of the lioiise. The uncle was a 
good honest man, and very religious. He minded moi^e 
his office of a prior, his study and exercises of d<3V0- 
tion, than the riches, pomp, magnificence, and va- 
nity of the world ; so, seeing that tlie discharge of his 
duty and that of an executor of his niece were incon- 
sistent together, he resolved to marry her; which he 
did to the baron Suelves, a young, handsome, healthy, 
rich gentleman : but he died seven months after his 
marriage, so the good uncle was again at the same 
trouble and care of his niece, w^ho was left a widow> 
but not with child. After the year of her mournine: 
was expired, siic was married to the great president of 
the council, who was afterwards great clc^mcellor of the 
kingdom, but he died, leaving no children. The first 
and second husband left all their estates to her; and 
she was reckoned to have eiglity thousand pistoles in 
yearly rent and goods. A year after, Don Pedro Ca- 
rillo, brigadier general, and general governor of the 
kingdom married her, but has no children by her. I 
left both t!ie governor and the lady alive, when I quit 
the country. £^ow I come to the point. It wa^ 

K 2 



Hi. A MASTER-KEY 

specified in all the matches between the gentlemen and 
the lady, that it' they had no issue by her, all her es- 
tate and goods should fall to the uncle as a second bro- 
tiier of her fatiier : and so ex necessitaU the convent 
should be forex^cr the only enjoyer of it. It was found 
out, but too late, that the friar steward, before she was 
first married, had given her a dose to make her a bar- 
ren woman,- and though nobody did believe that the 
uitcle had aiiy hand in it, (so great an opinion the 
world and the lady's huiiband had of him) every body 
did suspect at first, the friar steward, and so it was 
confirmed at last by his own confession ; for being at 
the point of death, he owned the fact puhlicly and his 
ilesign in it. 

Another instance. A lady of the first rank, of eigh- 
teen years of age, the only iiciress of a considerable 
estate, was kej>t by her parents at a distance from all 
sorts of company, except only that of the confessor of 
tlie family, w ho was a learned and devout man : but 
as these reverends have always a father companion to 
assi^st them at home and abroad, many times the mis- 
eliief is contrived mid effected unknown to the confes- 
sor, by his wicked companion ; so it happened in this 
instance. The fame of the wonderful beauty of this 
young lady was spread so far abroad, that the kin^: 
and queen being in the city for eight months together/ 
and not seeing the celebrated beauty at theiy court, 
her majesty asked her fatljer one day wdiether he had 
any children ? And when he answered that he had oidy 
one daughter, he was desired by the queen to bring 
Tier along with Mm to court the next day, for site had! 



TO POFEllY. 116 

a great desire to see lier beauty so adiniied at home 
and abroad. The father could not refuse it, and so 
the next day the lady appeared at court, and was so 
much admired tliat a grandee, w!io had then the com- 
mand of the army, though not of his own passions, 
said, this is the first time I see the sun among the 
stars. The grandee began to covet that inestimable 
jewel, and his heart burning in the agreeable flame of 
her eyes, he went to see Iier father, but could not see 
the daughter. At last (all his endeavours being in 
vain, for he was married) he sent for the confessor's 
companion, whose in erest and mediation he got by 
money and fair promises of raising him to an ecclesi- 
astical dignity: so by that means he sent a letter to 
the lady, who read it, and in a very few days he got 
her consent to disguise himself and come to see her, 
along with the father companion ; so one evening in 
the dark, putting on a friar's habit, he v/ent to her 
chamber, where he was always in company with the 
€o?npanion friar, who by crafty persuasions made th6 
lady understand, that if she did not consent to every 
thing that the grandee should desire, her life and re- 
putation were lost, &c. In the same disguise they 
saw each other several times, to the grandee's satis- 
faction, and her hearty grief and vexation. 

But the court being gone, the young lady began fo 
suspect some public proof of her intrigue, till then se- 
cret, and consulting tlie father companion upon it, he 
did wliat he could to prevent it, but in vain. The 
misf >rtune was suspected, and owned by her to her pa- 
reiirts. The father died of very grief in eight days 



lid A MAS TER-KKY 

time : aiid (ho motlier went into the country with liee 
daughter, tiJl siie was free from her disease; and after- 
wards both ladies, mother and daughter, retired into 
a monastery, wliere I knew and conversed several times 
with them. The gentleman had made liis will long 
before, by wliich tiie convent was to get the estate, in 
case the lady should die without children ; and as she 
had taken the habit of a nun, and professed the vows 
of religion, the prior was so ambitious, that he asked 
the estate, alledging that she, being a professed nun, 
could not have children; to which the lady replied, 
that she was obliged to obey her father's will, by which 
she was mistress of the estate during her life ; adding 
that it was better for the father prior not to insist on 
his demand, for she was ruined in htr reputation by 
the wickedness of one of his friars, and that she, if 
pressed, would shevv her own child, who was the only 
heir of her father's estate. But the prior, deaf to her 
threatenings, carried on his pretension, and by an 
agreement (not to make the thing more puhlic than it 
was, for very few knew the true story) the prior got 
the estate, obliging the convent to give the lady and 
her mother, during their lives, 400 pistoles every year, 
the wliole estate being 5000 yearly rent. 

I could give several more instances of this nature, 
to convince that the confessors, priests and friars, are 
the fundamental, original cause of almost all the misdo- 
ings, and mischiefs that happen in families : by the in- 
stances already given, every body may easily know 
tlie secret practices of some of the Romish priests, 
wliich are an abomination to the Lord, especially in 



TO POPERY. lir 

the holy tribunal of confession.. Sol may conclude and 
dismiss this first chapter, saying, that the confession 
is the mint of friars and priests, the sins of the peni- 
tents the metals, the absolution the coin of money, and 
the confessors the keepers of it. 

Mow, the reader may draw from these accounts as 
many inferences as he pleases, tiil, God willing, I fur- 
nish him with new arguments, and instances of their 
evil practices in the second part of this work. 



PART 11. 

Tim is a true copy of the pope's bull out of Spanish^ in 
the translation of wJiich into English^ lam tied up to 
the letter f almost word for word^ and this is to prevent 
fas to this point J all calumny and objection^ which 
may be madx against if^ by some critic amon^ the B^ 
man catholics, 

MDCCXVIIL 

Bull of the holy cruzade, granted by tlie holiness of 
our most holy fiither Clement the Xlth, to the king- 
doms of Spain, and the isles to them pertaining, in fa- 
vour to all them, that should help and serve the king 
Don Philip V. our lord, in the war and expences of it, 
which he doth make against the enemies of our catho- 
I lie faith ; with great indulgences and pardons, for th6 
\ year one thousand seven hundred and eighteen. 

The prophet Joel, sorry for the damages which the 
^ sons of Israel did endure by the invasion of the Chal- 



ilS A MASTER KEY 

dean armies, (z^^alous for and desirous of their de- 
fence) after having recommended to them the observ- 
ance of the law, calling the soldiers to the war, saith : 
That he saw, for the comfort of all, a mystical spring 
come out from God and his house, which did water 
and wash away the sins of that people. Chap. iii. 18. 

Seeing then, our most holy father Clen^ent Xlth, 
(who at this day doth rule and govern the holy apos- 
tolic see) for the zeal of the catholic king of the Spains, 
Don Philip the Vth, for tlie defence of our holy faith^ 
and who for that purpose gatliereth together, and main- 
taineth his armies against all the enemies of Christi- 
anity, to help him in this holy enterprize, doth grant 
him this bull, by which his holiness openeth the springs 
of the blood af Christ, and the treasure of his inesti- 
mable merits; and with it encourageth all the cluis- 
tians to the assistance of this undertaking. For this 
purpose, and tliat they might enjoy this benefit, he or- 
ders to be published the ft)llowing indulgences^ graces, 
and faculties, or privileges. 

I. His holiness doth grant to all the true christians 
of the said kingdoms and dominions, dwellers settled, 
and inhabitants in them, and to all comers to them, or 
should be found in tliem ; who moved with tlie zeal of 
promoting the holy catholic faith, should go, person- 
ally and upon their own expences, to the war in the 
army, aud with the forces which his majesty sendetli, 
for the time of one year to fight against the Turks 
and other infidels, or to do any other service, as, to 
help personally in the same army, continuing in it the 
whole year: to all these his holiness doth grant a free 



TO POrERY. ±i4 

and full inclulgeiicc and pardon of all their sins (if they 
have a perfect contrition, or,. if they confess them hy 
mouth, and if they cannot, if they have a hearty desire 
of it) which hath heen used to be granted to thein that 
go to the conquest of the holy land, and in the year of 
Jubilee: and declares* that all they that shonld die be- 
fore tlie end of the expedition, or in the way, as they 
are going to the army before the expedition, shonld 
likewise enjoy aild obtain tlie said pardon and indul- 
gence- 
He granteth ^Iso the same to them, who (though 
they do not go personally) should send another upon 
their own expences in this manner, viz. If he that 
sends another is a cardinal, primate, patriarch, arch- 
bishop, bishop, son of a king, prince, duke, marquis, 
or earl, then he must send as many as he can possibly 
send, till ten ; and if he cannot send ten, he must send at 
least four soldiers. All other persons, of whatever con- 
dition soever they be, must send one; and if they can* 
not send one, in such a case two or three, or four, may 
join and contribute, every one according to his abili- 
ties, and send one soldier. 

11. Item. The chapters, ^ all churches, monasteries 
of friars, and nuns, without excepting mendicant or^ 
ders, if ten, with the consent of the chapter or commu- 
nity, do join to send one soldier, they do enjoy the said 
indulgence; and not they only, but the person sent 
by them, if he be poor. 

• IIL Item. The secular priests, who, with the con^ 
sent of tlieir diocesan, and the friars of their superiors, 
should preach the word of God in the said army, or 



120 A MASTEll-KEY 

should perform any otlier ecclesiastical and pious of- 
fice which is declared to he lawful for them, without in- 
curring irregularity, are empowered to serve theip 
benifices by meet and fit tenants, having not the cure 
of souls; for if they have, they cannot without his ho- 
liness's consent. And it is declared, that the soldiers 
employed in this war are not obliged to fast the days 
appointed and commanded by the church, and which 
they should be obliged to fast on, if tliey were not in 
the war, 

IV. Item. His lioliness grants, not only to the sol- 
diers, but to all them who, though they should not go, 
should encourage this holy work with the charity im- 
der-mentioned, all the indulgences, graces and privi- 
leges in this bull contained ; and this for a whole year, 
reckoning from the publishing of it in any place what- 
soever, viz. that yet, in time of apostolical, or ordinary 
interdictum, i. e. suspension of all ecclesiastical and 
divine service, they may hear mass either in churches 
and monasteries, or in the private oratories marked 
and visited by the diocesan ; and if they were priests, 
to say mass and other divine offices j or if they were 
not, to make others celebrate mass before them, their 
familiar friends and relations, to receive the holy sa- 
crament of the Lord's supper and tlie other sacra- 
ments, except on Easter Sunday; provided, that they 
have not given occasion for the said interdictum, nor 
hindered tlie taking of it : provided likewise, that eve- 
ry time they make use of such oratory, they sliouldy 
according to tlieir devotion, pray for union and con- 
cord among all christian princes, the rooting out of 
lieresies, and victory over tlie infidels. 



TO POPERY. 121 

V. Item. His holiness grantetli, that in time of in- 
terdictum their corpses may be buried in sacred 
ground, with a moderate funeral pomp. 

VI. Item. He grants to all that should take tliis 
bull, that during the year, by the counsel of both spi- 
ritual and corporal physicians, they may eat flesh in 
Lent, and several other days in whicli it is prohibited: 
and likewise that they may freely eat eggs and tUings 
with milk j and that all these, who should eat no fleshy 
keeping the form of the ecclesiastical fast, do fulfil the 
precept of fasting: and in this privilege of eating eggs, 
&c. are not comprised the ^ patriarchs, primates, arch- 
bishops, bishops, nor other inferior prelates, nor any 
person whatever of the regulars, nor of the secular 
priests (the days only of Lent) notwithstanding from 
the mentioned persons, we except all those that are 6Q 
years of age, and all the knights of the military orders, 
who freely may eat eggs, &c. and enjoy the said pri- 
vilege. 

VII. Item. The above-named, that should not go, 
nor send any soldier to this lioly war, out of their own 
substance, (if they should help to it, keeping a fast for 
devotion's sake, in some days which are of no precept, 
and praying and imploring the help of God for the 
victory against the infidels, and his grace for the uni- 
on among the christian princes) as many times as they 
should do it, during the year, so many times it is grant- 
ed them, and graciously forgiven fifteen years, and 
fifteen quarantains of pardon, and all the penances im- 
posed on them, and in whatever manner due: also that 
they be partakers of all tiie prayers, alms and pilgrim 

L 



122 A MASTER-KEY 

mages of Jerusalem, and of all the good works which 
should be done hi the universal militant church, and 
in each of its members. 

VIII. Item. To all those, who in the days of Lent 
and other days of the year, in which * cstations are at 
Rome, should visit five churches, or five altars, and if 
there are not five churches or five altars, five times 
shoidd visit one cliurch or one altar, praying for the 
victory and union above-mentioned, his holiness grant- 
eth that they should enjoy and obtain the indulgences 
and pardons, wliich all those do enjoy and obtain, that 
personally visit the churches of the city of Rome, and 
without the v/alls of it, as well as if they did visit per- 
sonally the said churches. 

IX. Item. To the intent, that the same persons witli 
more purity and cleanness of their consciences, miglit 
pray, his holiness grants, that they might choose for 
their confessor any secular or regular priest licensed 
by the diocesan, to whom power is granted, to absolve 
them of all sins and censures whatsoever (tliough they 
be reserved to the apostolical see, and specified in the 
bull of the Lord's supper, except of the crime of her- 
esy) and that they should enjoy free and full indul- 
gence and pardon of them all. But of the sins hot re- 
served to the ap tstolical see, they may be absolved to- 
ties quoties, i. e. as many times as tliey do confess them, 
and perform salutary penance : and if to be absolved, 
there be need of restituticm, they might make it them- 
selves, or by their heirs, if they have an impediment 
to make it themselves. Likewise the said confessor 
shall have power to communicate or change any voi'ir 



TO POPERY. 1^3 

whatsoever, though made with an oath, (excepting the 
Yow of chastity, religion, and beyond seas) but this is, 
upon giving for charity what they should think fit, for 
the benefit of the holy cruzade. 

X. Item. That if, during the said year they should 
happen, by sudden death or by the absence of their 
confessor, to die without confessing their sins; if they 
die hearty penitents ; and in the time appointed by the 
church, had confessed and have not been negligent nor 
cai*eless in confidence of this grace, it is granted, that 
they should obtain the said free and full indulgence and 
pardon of all their sins ; and their corpse might be bu- 
ried in ecclesiastical burying place (if they did not die 
excommunicated) notwithstanding the interdictum. 

IX. Likewise his holiness hath granted by his par- 
ticular brief, to all the faithful Christians, that take 
the bull twice a year, that they might once more, dur- 
ing their lives, and once more at the point of death 
(besides what is said above) be absolved of all the sins, 
crimes, excesses of what nature soever, censures, sen- 
tences of excommunication, though comprised in the 
bull of the Lord's supper, and though the absolution 
of them be reserved to his holiness, (except the crime 
and offence of heresy) and tliat they might twice more 
enjoy all the graces, indulgencies, faculties and par- 
dons granted in this bull. 

XIL And his holiness gives power and authority to 
us Don Francis Anthony Ramirez de la Piscina, arch- 
deacon of Alcarraz, prebendary and canon of the holy 
church of Toledo, primate of the Spains, of his majes- 
ty's council, apostolic, general commissary of the ha- 



124 A MASTER-KEY 

ly cruzade^ and all other graces in all the kingdoms, 
and dominions of Spain, to suspend (during the year 
of the puhlishing of this bull) all the graces, indulgen- 
ces, and faculties, granted to the said kingdoms, do- 
minions, isles, provinces, to whatever chui'ches, mo- 
nasteries, hospitals, brotherhoods, pious places, and to 
particular persons, though the granting of them did 
contain words contrary to this suspension. 

XIII. Likewise he gives us power to reinforce and 
make good again the same graces and faculties, and 
all others Avhatsoever ; and he gives us and our depu- 
ties power to suspend the interdictum in whatever 
place this bull should be preached ; and likewise to fix 
and determine the quantum of the contribution the 
people is to give for this bull, according to the abili- 
ties and quality of persons. 

XIV. And we the said apostolic general commissa- 
ry of the holy cruzade (in favour of this holy bull, by 
the apostolical authority granted to us, and that so ho- 
ly a work do not cease nor be hindered by any other 
indulgence) do suspend, during the year, all the gra- 
ces, indulgences and faculties, of this or any other 
kind, granted by his holiness, or by other popes his 
predecessors, or by the holy apostolical see, or by his 
authority, to all the kingdoms of his majesty, to all 
churches, monasteries, hospitals and other pious pla- 
ces, universities, brotherlioods and secular persons; 
though the said graces and faculties be in favour of 
the building of St. Peters church at Rome, or of any 
other cruzade, though all and every one of them should 
(^.ontain words contrary to this suspension : so that. 



JO POPERY, 125 

(luring the year, no person shall obtain, or enjoy any 
other graces, indulgences or faculties whatsoever, nor 
can be published, except only the privileges granted 
to tiie superiors of the mendicant orders, as to their 
friars. 

XY, And in favour of this bull, and by the said 
apostolical authority we declare, that all those that 
would take this bull, might obtain, and enjoy all the 
graces, facuUies and indulgences* jubilees and pardons, 
which have been granted by our most holy father Paul 
the 5th, and Urbanus the 8th, and by other popes of 
happy memory, and by tlie holy apostolical see, or by 
its authority, mentioned and comprised in the said sus- 
pension ; and w hich, by the apostolical commission, 
we rciriforce and make good again; and by the same 
autliority do suspend the interdictum for eight days 
before and after the publishing this bull, in any place 
v> hatsocver (as it is contained in his holiness' brief:) 
and we command that every body, that would take this 
bull, be obliged to keep by him the same^which is here 
printed, signed and sealed with our name and seal, and 
that otherwise they cannot obtain, nor enjoy the bene- 
fit of the said bull. 

XVI. And whereas you, Peter de Zuloaga, have 
given two reales de plata, whicii is the charity fixed 
by us, and have taken this bull, and your name is 
written in it, we do declare, that you have already ob- 
tained, and are granted the said indulgences, and that 
yoii may enjoy and make use of them in the above- 
mentioned form. Given at Madrid, the l^th day of 

March, one thousand seven hundred and eighteen, 

jl2 



126 A MASTER-KEY 

Form of absoluiioiif which by virtue of this bull may be 
given to all those that take the bull once in their life- 
tinw, and once upon the point of death. 

Misereatur tui Omnipotens JDeus^ ^'c. By the autho- 
rity of God and his holy apostles St. Peter and St. 
Paul, and of our most holy father (N.) to you especi- 
ally granted and to me committed, I absolve you from 
all censure of the greater or lesser excommunication, 
suspension, interdictum, and from all other censures 
and pains, or punishments, which they have incurred 
and deserved, though the absolution of them be reserv- 
ed to the apostolical see, as by the same is grant- 
ed to you. And 1 bring you again into the union and 
communion of the faithful christians: and also lab- 
solve you from all the sins, crimes and excesses, which 
vou have now here confessed, and from those which 
you would confess if you did remember them, though 
they be so exceeding great that the absolution of them 
be reserved to the apostolical see; and I do grant you 
free and full indulgence and pardon of all your sins 
now and w bene ver confessed, forgotten and out of your 
mind, and of all the pains and punishments which you 
were obliged to endure for them in purgatory. In the 
jiame of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy 
Gliost. Amen. 

Brief or sum of the estations alid indulgences of Rome^ 
which his holiness grants to all those that would take and 
fulfil the contents of this hill. 

The first day in St. Sabine, free and fidl indulgence. 
Thursday in St. George the same 



TO POPERY. 127 

Friday in St John and St. Paul the same 

Saturday in St. Griffon the same 

First Sunday in Lent in St. John, St. Paul the same 
Monday in St. Peter and Vincula iTie same 

Tuesday in St Anastasie the same 

^ And this day every body takes a soul out of pur- 
gatory. 
Wednesday in St. Mary the 

greater free and full indulgence 

Thursday in St. Laurence Panispema the same 

Friday in the saints apostles the same 

Saturday in St. Peter the same 

Setond Sunday in Lent in St Mary of 

Navicula, and St. Mary the greater the same 
Monday in St. Clement the same 

Tuesday in St. Balijine the same 

Wednesday in St. Cicile the same 

Thursday in St. Mary transtiber the same 

Friday in St. Vidal the same 

Saturday in St. Peter and St. Marcelin the same 
^ Ind this day every body takes one soul out of pur- 
gatory. 
Third Sunday in Lent in St. Laurence 

extra Muros free and full indulgenccc 

^ And this day every body takes one soul out^of 

purgatory. 
Monday in St. Mark free and full indulgence. 
Tuesday in St. PoteiH iane the same 

Wednesday in St. Sixte the same 

Thursday in St. Cosme, and St. Damian, 
the image of dur lady of Populi & Pacis 
is shown • the same 



12S AMx\STER-KEY 

Friday in St. Laurence in Liiciiia the samex 

Saturday in St. Siisane and St. Mary 

of the angels the same 

Fourth Sunday in Lent in St. Crosse of 

Jerusalem the same 

^ This day every body takes one soul out of purga- 

fary. 
Monday in the 4 crowned free and full indulgences. 
Tuesday in St. Laurence in Damascus the same 
Wednesday in St. Peter the same 

Thursday in St. Silvastre and in St. Mary 

in the mountains the same 

Friday in St. Eusebe the same 

Saturday in St. Nicholas in prison the same 

Fifth Sunday in Lent in St. Peter the same 

Monday in St. Crissogne tlie same 

Tuesday in St. Quirce the same 

Wednesday in St. Marcelle the same 

Thursday in St. Apollinarius the same 

Friday in St. Estephan the same 

* This day every body takes one soul ourof purga- 
tory. 
Saturday in St John ante Portam 

Latinam free and full indulgeift^e. 

^ And this day every one takes a soul out of purga- 
tory. 
Sixth Sunday in Lent in St. John de 

Leteran free and full indulgence. 

Monday in St. Praxedis tlie same 

Tuesday in St. Priske tlie same 

Wednesday in St. Mary the greater the same 



TO POPERY. 



129 



Thursday in St. John de Leteran the same 
Friday in St. Crosse of Jerusalem and 

in St. Mary of the angels the sanje 

Saturday in St. John de Leteran the same 

Easter Sunday in St. Mary the greater the same 

Monday in St. Peter the same 

Tuesday in St, Paul the same 

Wednesday in St. Laurence extra muros the same 
^ This day every body takes a soul out of purgatory. 
Thursday in the saints apostles 

free and full indulgence. 

Friday in St. Mary Rotunda the same 

Saturday in St. John de Leteran the same 

Smiday after Easter in St. Pancracy the same 

ESTATIONS AFTER EASTER. 

In the greater litanies : St. Mark's day ; in 

St* Peter the sam^ 

Ascension-day in St. Peter the same 

Whitsunday in St. John de Leteran the same 

Monday in St. Peter the same 

Tuesday in St Anastasie the same 

Wednesday in St. Mary the greater the same 

Thursday in St, Laurence extra muros the same 
^ This day every body takes a soul out of purgatory. 
Friday in the saints apostles 

free and full indulgence. 
Saturday in St. Peter the same 

ESTATIONS IN ADVENT. 

First Sunday in St. Mary the greater the same 



laQ 



A MASTER-KEY 



And in the same church all the holy 

days of our lady the same 

Second Sunday in St* Crosse of Jerusalem the same 

The same day St- Mary of the angels tlie game 

Third Sunday in St. Peter the same 

Wedn<^sday of the four rogations, in St. 

Mary the greater the same 

Friday in the saints apostles the same 

Saturday in St. Peter the same 

Fourth Sunday in the saints apostles the same 

CHRISTMAS-NIGHT. 

At the first mass in St. Mary the greater, in 

the Manger's chapel the same 

At the second mass in St. xinastasie the same 



CHRISTMAS-DAY. 

At the third mass in St. Mary the greater the same 

Monday in St. Mary Rotunda the same 

Tuesday in St Mary the greater the same 

The innocent's day in St. Paul the same 

The circumcision of Christ in St. Mary 

Trunstiher the same 

The Epiphany in St. Peter the same 
Dominica in Septuag. in St. Laurence 

extra muros the same 
^ This day every body takes a soul out of purgatory, 
Dominica in Sexag. in St. Paul 

free and full indulgence. 

Dominica in Quinquag. in St. Peter the same 



TO POPERY. 13 i 

And because every day of the year there are estations 
at Rome, with very great indulgences, tbcrefore it 
is granted to all those that take this bull, the sanne 
indulgences and pardons every day which are grant- 
ed in Rome. 
Don Francis Anthony Ramirez de i.a Piscina. 



EXPLANATION OF THIS BULL, 

and 
REMARKS UPOJsr IT. 

Bull ofcru%ade. — A pope's brief, granting the sign 
i&f the cross to those that take it. All that a foreigner 
canlearn in the dictionaries as to this word, is the above 
account; therefore I ought to tell you that are foreign- 
ers, that the word cru%ada was a grant of the cross, 
i. e. that when the king of Spain makes war against 
the Turks and Infidels, his coat of arms, and the motto 
of his colours is the cross, by which all the soldiers 
understand that such a war is a holy war, and that 
the army of the king, having in its standard the sign 
of the cross, hath a great advantage over the enemy; 
for, as they believe, if they die in such a war their 
souls go straight to heaven ; and to confirm them in 
this opinion the pope grants them .in this bull, signed 
with the sign of the cross, so many in|lulgences as you 
have read in it. ^ ^);i^ ^^ 

Again cruz, or cross, is the onlj^i^inguishing cha- 
racter of those that follow tl^e coloiirs 9E Jesus Christ/ 



132 A MASTER-KEY 

from whence cruzade is derived, that is to say, a brief 
of the indulgences and privileges of the cross, granted 
to ail those that serve in the war for the defence of the 
christian faith against all its enemies whatsoever. 

This bull is granted by the pope every year to the 
king of Spain, and all iiis subjects, by which the king 
increases his treasure, and the pope takes no small 
share of it. The excessive sums of money, which the 
bull brings in to the king and pope, every body may 
easily know by the account 1 am going to give of it. 

It is an inviolable custom in Spain every year, after 
Christmas, to have this bull publislied in every city, 
town and borough, which is always done in the follow- 
ing manner. 

Tlie general commissary of the holy cruzade most 
commonly resides at Madrid, from whence he sends 
to his deputies in every kingdom or province the print- 
ed bulls they want in their respective jurisdictions. 
This bull being published at Madrid, by the general 
commissary or his deputy, which is always done by a 
famous preacher, after the gospel is sung in the high 
mass, and in a sermon which he preacheth upon this 
subject: after this is done at Madrid, all the deputies 
of the holy cruzada send from the capital cily, where 
they reside, fi'iars with a petit commissary to every 
town and village, to preach and publish the bull. Eve- 
ry preacher hath his own circuit and a certain num- 
ber of town and villages to publish it in, and making 
use of the privileges mentioned in the bull, he in his 
sermon persuades the people that nobody can be saved 1 
that year without it, which they do and say every year 



TO POPERY. 133 

The petit commissary, for liis trouble, hath half a re- 
al of eight, i. e. two and four pence a day ; and the 
preacher, according to the extent of the circuit, hatli 
twenty or thirty crowns for the whole journey, and 
4>oth are well entertained in every place. 

Every soul from seven years of age and upwards is 
obliged to take a bull, and pay two reals of plate, i. e. 
thirteen pence three fartliings of this money ; and one 
part out of three of the living persons take two or 
three, according to their families and abilities. The 
regular priests are obliged to take the bull three times 
every year, for which they pay two reals of plate : 
in the beginning of Lent another, which they call the 
l)ull of Lactinios. i. e. bull to eat eggs, and things of 
milk, without which they cannot. And another in the 
holy week. For the bull of Lactinios they pay four 
and nine pence, and the same for that of the holy week; 
the friars and nuns do the same. Now if you consi- 
der the number of ecclesiastics and nuns, and all tlie 
living souls from seven years of age and upwards, you 
may easily know what vast sums of money the king 
gets in his dominions by this yearly brief, of which 
^e tliird or better part goes to Rome one way or 
other, ■ 

Add to tliis, the bull of the dead. Tiiis is another 
sort of bu;t, for tiie pope grants in it pardon of sius, 
and salvation to them who, before they die, or after 
their death, their relations for them, take this bull de- 
fnnctoruni. The custom of taking tliis bull is become 
aiaw, and a very rigorous law in their church, for no- 
body can be buried, either in the churchy or iji tire 

M 



IS* A MASTER-KEY 

church-yard \yithoiit having this bull upon tliei. 
breasts, which (as they say) is a token and signal that 
they were christians in their li\Les, and after their 
death they are in the way of salvation. 

Many poor people, either beggars, or strangers, or 
those that die in tlie hospitals could not he buried with- 
out the help of the well disposed people, who bestow 
their charities, for the use of taking bulls of the dead, 
that the poor destitute people might have the benefit 
of a consecrated burying place. The sum for this bull 
is two reals of plate, and whatever money is gathered 
together in tlie whole year goes to the pope, or (as they 
say) to the treasure of the church. Now I leave to ev- 
ery body's consideration, how many persons die in a 
year, in so vast dominions as those of the king of 
Spain, by which, in this point, the pope's benefit, or 
the treasure of the church, may be nearly known. 

stupid, blind, ignorant people ! Of what use or be- 
jnefit is this bull after death ? Hear what St. John tells 
YOU, " Happy are they that die in the Lord.'' It is 
certain that all those that die in the grace of the Lord, 
heartily peniteiit, and sorry for their sins, go immedi- 
ately to enjoy the ravishing pleasures of eternal life^ 
and those that die in sin, go to suffer forever in the 
dark place of torment. And this happens to our souls 
in tlie very instant of their separation from their bo- 
dies. Let every body make use q^ their natural rea- 
son, and read impartially the scripture, and he will 
find it to be so, or else lie will believe it to be so. Then 
if it is so, they ouglit to consider, that when they take 
this ))ul] rwhich is commonly a little before they carry 



TO POPERY. 135 

the corpse into the church) the judgment of God, as to 
the soJil, is over, (for in a twinkling of an eye he may 
lay the charges and pass the sentence) at that time 
the soul is either in heaven or in hell. What then doth 
the hull signify to them ? but of this I s!iall speak in 
another place. And now I come to the explanation of 
the bull, and remarks upon it. 

This bull I am speaking of was granted five years a- 
go to the faithful people of Spain, by the late pope, and 
which a gentleman of the army took accidentally from 
a master of a ship out of Biscay, whose name is Peter 
de Zoloaga, as it is signed by himself in the same bull. 
1 have said already that a bull is every year granted 
to the king of Spain, by the pope in being, who either 
for the sake of money, or for fear, doth not scruple at 
all to grant quite contrary bulls, to two kings at the 
same time reigning in Spain : now I crave leave to 
vindicate my present saying. 

When this present king of Spain, Philip the Vth^ 
went there and was crowned, both the ar^ns spiritual 
and temporal, representatives of the whole nation (as 
in these kingdoms, the house of lords and commons) 
,^ave him the oath of fidelity, acknowledgiug him for 
their lawful sovereign : and w hen this was done, pope 
Clement the Xlth confirmed it^ nay, his holiness gave 
him the investiture of Naples, wiiich is the sealing up 
all the titles and riglits belonging to a Jav/ful king, and 
after this he granted him the bull of cruzade, by which 
he acknowledged him king, and gave him help to de- 
fend himself and his dominions, against all the ene- 
mies of Christianity, and all enemies whatsoever. Ev» 



13^ A MASTER-KEY 

ery body knows that this pope wRvS for the interests oi 
the house of Bourbon, rather than that of Austria | 
and so no wonder, if he did not lose any time in set-* 
tling the crown and all the right upon Thilip of Bour- 
bon, rather tlian upon Ciiarles the Hid, the present 
emperor of Germany. 

This last, thinking that the right to the crown of 
Spain belonged to him, of which I will not talk, begun 
the war against Philip, supported by the hereticks (as 
the Spaniards call the English) and being proclaimed 
at Madrid and at Zaragossa, he applied to tiie pope 
to be confirmed king, and to get both the investiture 
of Naples and the bull of tlie holy cruzadV. As to the 
investiture of Naples, I leave it to the history written 
upon the late war. But as to the bull, the pope grant- 
ed it to him, giving hiin all the titles he gave to Philip. 
At the same time tliere were two kings and two bulls^ 
and one pope and one people. The divines met toge- 
ther to examine this point, viz. Whether the same, 
people, having given their oath of fidelity to Philip, 
and taken the bull granted to him, were obliged to ac- 
knowledge Charles as a king, and take the bull grant- 
ed to him. 

The divines for Philip were of opinion that the pope 
could not annul the oath, nor dispense with the oath 
taken by the whole nation, and that the people were 
obliged in conscience not to take any other bull, than 
that granted to Philip ; and their reason was, that the' 
pope was forced by the imperial army to do it; and 
that his holiness did it out of fear j and to prevent the 
riAn of the church which was then threatened. 



TO POPERY. 137 

The diviiics for Cliarles alleged the pope*s infallibi- 
lity, and tliat every cliristian is obliged in conscience 
to ibllow tlic last declaration of the pope, and blindly 
to obey it, witlioiit inquiring into the reasons that did 
move the pope to it. And the same dispute was about 
the presentation of bishops, for there was at the same 
time a bishoprick vacant, and Charles having present- 
ed one, and Philip another, the pope confirmed them 
both, and both of them were consecrated. From this 
it appears that the pope makes no scruple at all in 
granting two bulls to two kings at tlic same time, and 
to embroil with them the whole nation ; which he did 
not out of fear, nor to prevent the ruin of the church, 
but out of self interest, and to secure his revenue both 
ways, and an both sides. 

But, reader, be not surprised at this ; for this pope 
} am speaking of was so ambitions, and of so haughty 
a temper, that he did not care w!^ at means lie made use 
of, either to please his temper, or to quench the thirst 
of his ambition* 1 say, he was of so haughty a temper, 
that lie never suffered his decrees to be contradicted 
or disputed;, tliough they were against hoth human and 
divine laws; to clear this, I Vvill give an account of 
an instance in a case which happened in his pontificate. 

I was in Lisbon ten years ago, and a Spanish gentle- 
man (whose surname was Gonzalez) came to lodge in 
the same house where I was for a while before; and 
as we, after supper, were talking of the pope's supre- 
macy and power, he told me that he himself was a liv- 
ing witness of the pope^s authority on earth: and ask- 
ing him, how I he gave me the following account. 

M 2 



188 A MASTER KEY 

'* I was Lorn in Granada, of honest and rich, f hongk 
not noble pai'ents, who gave me the best education they 
could in that city. I was not twenty years of age when 
my father and mother died, both within the space of 
six months. They left me all they liad in the world, 
recommending to me in their testament to take care of 
my sister Dorothea, and to provide for her. She was 
liho only sister I had, and at tliattitnein the eighteenth 
year of her age. From our youth we had tenderly lov- 
ed one another ; and upon her account, cjuitting my 
stiidies, I gave myself up to her com|)any, Tiiis tender 
brotherly love produced in my heart at last another 
kind of love for her; and though I never shewed her 
my passion, I was a sufferer by it. I was ashamed 
within myself, to see that I could not master nor over- 
come tliis irregtilar inclination; and perceiving that 
fhe persisting in it would prove the ruin of my soul, 
and of my sister's too, I firmly resolved to quit the 
country for a while, to see whether I could dissipate 
this passion, and banish out of my heart this burning^ 
and consuming fire of love ; and after having settled 
my affairs, and put my sister under the care of an 
aunt, I took my leave of her, who, being surprised at 
this unexpected news, upon her knees begged me to 
tell her the reason that had moved me to quit the coun- 
try ; and telling her I had bo reason, but only a mind 
and desire to travel two or three years, and that I beg- 
ged her not to marry any person in the world till my 
return home, I left her and went to Rome. By letters 
of recommendation, by money, and my careful com- 
porltnent, I got myself in a little time into4he favour 



TO POPERY. 130 

and house of cardinal A. I. Two years I spent in his 
service at my own expense ; and his kindness to me 
was so exceedingly great, that I was not only his com- 
panion, but his favourite and confidant. All this while 
I was so raving and in so deep a melancholy, that his 
eminence pressed upon me to tell him the reason. I 
told him that my distemi)er had no remedy : but he 
still insisted the more to know my distemper. At last 
I told him the love I had for my sister, and that it be- 
ing impossible she should be my wife, my distemper 
had no remedy. To this he said nothing, but the day 
following WTnt to the sacred palace, and meeting in 
^he pope's antichamber cardinal P. I. he asked him 
whether the pope could dispense with the natural and 
divine impediment between brother and sister to be 
married ; and as cardinal P. I. said the pope could not^ 
my protector began a loud and bitter dispute with him, 
alleging reasons by which the pope could do it. The 
♦ pope, hearing the noise, came out of his chamber, and 
asking what was the matter, he was told it ; and flying 
into an uncommon passion, he said, the pope may do 
every thing, I do dispense with it ; and left them with 
these vv^oimIs. The protector took testimony of the 
pope^s declaration, went to the datary, and drew a 
public instrument of the dispensation; then coming 
home, he gave it to me, saying, «^ though I shall be 
deprived of your good services and company, I am ve- 
ry glad that I serve you in tins to your heart's desire, 
an 1 satisfaction. Take this dispensation, and go when- 
ever yon please to marry your sister. I left Rome, and 
'^eame home, and after I rested from the fatigue of so 



140 A MASTER-KEY 

long a joiuniey, I went to present the dispensation to 
the bishop and to get Iiis license: but he told me, that 
he could not receive the dispensation, nor give such a 
license : I acquainted my protector with this, and im- 
mediately an excommunication was dispatched against 
the bishop for having disobeyed the pope, and com- 
manding him to pay a thousand pistoles for the trea- 
sure of the church, and to marry me himself; so I was 
married by the bishop, and at this present time I have 
Ave children by my wife and sister.'* 

From these accounts, christian reader, you may 
judge of that pope's temper and ambition, and you 
may likewise think of the rest as you may see it in the 
following discourse. 

The title, head or direction of this bull is, to all the 
faithful cluistianSj in the kingdoms and dominions of 
Spain, who should help, or serve in the war, which 
^he king makes against Turks, Infidels, and all the 
enemies of the holy catholic faitli; or to those that 
sliould contribute and pray for the union among the 
christian princes, and for the victory over the enemies 
of Christianity. 

The Roman catlwlics with the pope say and firmly 
believe (I speak for the generality) that no man can 
be saved out of their communion ,• and so they reckon 
enemies of their faith all those that are of a differeir 
opinion : and we may be sure that the protectants, or 
hereticks as they call them^ are their irreconcileable 
enemies. 

Tliey pray publicly for the extirpation of hereticks, 
Turks and Infidels in the mai^s j and they do really be- 



TO t^OPERY. 14t 

lieve, they arc bound in conscience to make use of all 
^orts of means, let them be never so base, inhuman 
and barbarous, for the murdering of them. This is the 
doctrine of the church of Rome, which the priests and 
confessors do take care to sow in the hearts of the 
Roman tatholics, and by their advice, the hatred, ma- 
lice and aversion is raised to a great height against; 
the hercticks, as you shall know by the following ia- 
stances. 

First, in the last war between Charles the IIL ami 
Philip the V. the protestants confederate with Charles 
suffered very much by the country people. Those en- 
couraged by the priests and confessors of Philip's 
part, thinking that if any christian should kill a here- 
tick he should do God service, did murder in private 
many soldiers both English and Dutch. I saw, and I 
speak now before God and the world, in a town called 
Ficentes de Ebro, several arms and legs out of thq 
ground in a field, and inquiring the reason why those 
corpses were buried in the field, (a thing indeed not 
usual there) I was answered, that these wei^ the 
corpses of some English heretics, murdered by their 
patrons, or landlords, who had killed them to shew 
tiieir zeal for their religioii, and an old maxim among 
ihem : De los enemigos los 7n€nos : let us have as few 
^^nemies as we can* Fourteen English private men 
were killed the night before in their beds, and buried 
in the field, and I myself did reckon all of them ; and 
I suppose many others were murdered whom I did 
not see.. 



14^2 A MASTER-KEY 

The murderers make no scruple of it, Ibut out of 
Lravery and zeal for their religion, tell it to tlie father 
confessor, not as a sin^ but as a famous action done by 
them in favour of their faith. So great is the liatred 
and aversion the catliolics have against the protest- 
ants, and all enemies of their religion. We could con- 
firm the truth of this proposition with the cruelty of 
the late king of France against the poor hugonots, 
whom we now call refugees. This is well known to 
every body, therefore I leave Lewis and his counsel- 
lors where they are in the other world, where it is to 
be feared, they endure more torments than the banish- 
ed refugees in tfiis present one. So to conclude what 
J have to say upon the head or title of this bull, I may 
positively affirm that the pope's design in granting it 
is, first, out of interest I secondly, to encourage the 
common people to make war, and to root up all the 
people that are not of his communion, or to increase 
this way, if he can, his revenues, or the treasure of the 
church. 

I come now to the beginning of the bull, where the 
pope or his subdelegate, deputy, or general commis- 
sary, doth ground the granting of it in that passage 
of the prophet Joel, chap.^ii. 18. expressed in these 
words : that he '^ saw for the comfort of all, a mysti- 
cal fountain come out from God and his house," or, 
as it is in Spanish in the original bull, ^' from God andr 
from the Lord's house, which did water and wash the 
sins of that people.'' 

The reflections which may be made upon this text, 
I leave to our divines, whose learning I do equally co- 



M 




TO.POPEIIY. 143 

Vet and respect: 1 onlj^ say, that in the Latin Bible I 
found the text thus : Et fans e domo Jehovce prodibity 
qui irregaUt vallem cedrorum Lectissimarum* And in 
our English translation ; ^^ And a fountain shall come 
forth of tlie house of the Lord, and shall water the 
valley of Shittim.'' Now I leave tlie learned man to 
make his reflections, and I proceed to the appli- 
(tation. 

Seeing then, our most holy father (so it goes on) 

^ Clemen th i\\^ Xlth, for the zeal of the catholic king 
for the defence of our holy faith, to help him in this 
holy enterprize, doth grant him this bull, by which 
his holiness openeth the springs of the blood of Christ, 
and the treasure of his inestimable merits ; and with 
it encourageth all the christians to the assistance of 
this undertaking. 

I said before that the pope grants every year such 
ahull as this for the same purpose: so every year he 
openeth the springs of Christ's blood. O heaven ! what 
is man that thou shouldst magnify him ? Or rather, 
what i« this man that he should magnify himself, tak- 
ing upon him the title of most holy father^ and that of 
his holiness? A man, really a man, for it is certain, 

"" that this man, and many (fthers of his predecessors, 

had several b s. This man, I say, to take upon 

Jiiraself the power of opening the springs of Christ, 

I ^nd this every year ! Who will not be surprised at his 
assurance, and at his highest provocation of the Loi-d 
and his Christ ? 

For my part, I really believe that he openeth the 
springs of the blood of Christ, and openeth afresh those 



144 A MASTER KEY 

wounds of our Redeemer, not only every year, but 
every day witliout ceasing : this I do believe, but not 
as they believe it ; and if their doctrine be true among 
themselves, of course they must agree with me in this 
saying, that the pope doth crucify afresh our Savioujf 
without ceasing. 

In the treatise of vices and sins, the Romish divines 
propose a question : Utrum, or whether a man that 
takes upon himself one of God^s attributes, be a blas- 
phemous man, and whether such a man by his sins 
can kill God and Christ, or not? As to the first part 
of the question, they all do agree, that such a man is 
a blasphemous man. As to the second paii;, some are 
of opinion that si^ch an expression, of killing God, has 
no room in the question : but the greater part of scho- 
lastical and moral authors do admit the expression, 
and say such a man cannot kill God effectively, but 
that lie doth it affectively ; that is to say, that willing- 
ly taking upon himself an attribute of God, and acting 
against his laws, he doth affront and offend in the high- 
est degree that supreme Lawgiver ; and by taking up- 
on himself the office of a high-priest, the power of for- 
giving sins, which only belong to our Saviour Jesus, he 
affectively offends, and opwieth afresh his wounds and ^ 
the springs of his blood : and if it were possible for us 
to see him face to face, whom no man living hath seeiu 
yet^ as we see him tlirougli a glass now, we sliould find 
his high indignation against such a man : but he must 
appear before the dreadful tribunal of our God, and be 
judged by him according to his deeds : he shall have' 
the sajne judgment >vLth tlie antichrist, tiiough we 



TO POPERY. 145 

cannot prove by the scrii)ture that lie is the antichrist; 
notwithstanding we may defy antichrist himself, who- 
ever he be, and whenever he conies, to do worse and 
wickeder things than the pope doth. 0, wliat a fear- 
ful thing it is to fall into the hands of a living God ! 
now I come to the articles of the bull. 

I. His holiness grants a free and full indulgence and 
pardon of all their sins to those who^ upon their ov^^n 
expences, go to or serve pei^sonally in the war against 
the enemies of the Roman catholic faith: but this must 
be understood, if they continue in the army the whole 
year : so the next year, they are obliged to take this 
bull, and to continue in +he same service, if they will 
obtain the same indulgence and pardon, and so on all 
th^ir life time, for if they quit the service, they can- 
not enjoy this benefit, therefore for the sake of this im- 
aginary pardon, they do continue in it till they die, 
for otherwise there is no pardon of sins. 

Let us observe another thing in this article. The 
same indulgence and pardon is granted to those that 
die in the army, or going to the army before the expe- 
dition, or before the end of the year : but this must be 
understood also, if they do die with perfect contrition 
of their sins ^ or if they do confess them by mouth, or 
if they cannot, if they have a hearty desire to confess 
, them. As to the first condition, if they die with per- 
fect contrition, no Roman or protestant divine will de- 
ny that God will forgive such a man^s sins, and receive 
him into liis everlasting favour; so to such a man, a 
free and full indulgence and pardon is of no use; for 

N 



146 A MASTER-KEY 

without it, he is sure to obtain God's mercy and for- 
giYeness. 

As to the second condition, or if they do confess them 
by mouth, or have a hearty desire to do it : if a man 
want a hearty repentance, or is not heartily pcnitrnt 
and contrite, what can this condition of confessing by 
moutli, or having a hearty desire for it, profit such a 
man's soul? it being certain, that a man, by his open 
confession, may deceive the confessor and his own soul,^ 
but he cannot deceive God Almighty, who is the only 
searcher of our hearts: and if the catholics will say 
to this, that open confession is a sign of repentance, 
we may answer them, that among the protestants it is 
so, for being not obliged to do it, nor by the laws of 
God, nor by those of the church, when they do it, it is, 
in all human probability, a sure sign of repentance; 
but among the Roman catholics, this is no argument 
of repentance, for very often their lips are near the 
Lord, but their hearts very far off. 

How can we suppose that an habitual sinner tliat, 
to fulfil the precept of their church, confesses once a^ 
year ; and after it, the very same day, falls again in- 
to the same course of life; how can we presume, 1 say, 
that the open confession of such a man is a sign of re- 
pentance ? and if the Roman catholics reply to this, 
that the case of tliis first article is quiie different, be>^, 
ing only for tliose that die in the war with true con- 
trition and repentance, or open confession, or hearty 
desire of it ; 1 say that in this case, it is the same as 
in others. For whenever and wherever a man dies 
truly penitent and heartily sorry for his sin, such ai 



TO POPERY. i47 

man, without this hull and its indulgences and pardons, 
is forgiven hy God, who hath promised his holy spirit 
to all those that ask it ; and on the other side, if a man 
dies without repentance, though he confesseth his sins, 
he cannot obtain pardon and forgiveness from God, 
und in such a case the pope's indulgences and pardons 
cannot free that man from the punishment his impen- 
itent heart hath deserved. 

Observe likewise, that to all those warriors against 
the enemies of the Romish faith, the pope grants the 
same indulgences which he grants to those that go to 
the conquest of the holy land, in the year of Jubilee. 
The Roman catholics ought to consider that the great- 
est favour we can expect from God Almighty, is oidy 
the pardon of our sins, f:>r his grace and everlasting 
glory do follow after it. Then if the pope grants them 
ree, full and general pardon of their sins in this bull, 
what need have they of the pardons and indulgences, 
granted to those that go to the conquest of the holy 
land, and in the year of Jubilee? 

But, because few are acquainted with the nature of 
such indulgences and graces granted in the year of Ju- 
bilee, I must crav^e leave from the learned people, to 
say what I know in this matter. I will not trouble 
the public with the catalogue of the pope's bulls, but I 
cannot pass by one article contained in one of these 
bulls, which may be found in some libraries of curiouS^ 
gentlemen and learned divines of our church, and es- 
pecially in the earl of Sunderland's library, which is^ 
directed to the Roman catholics of England in these 
Ayords : Fill mei date mihi cordo vestra^ <^ hoc siifficit, 



lis A MASTER-KEY 

Tobis : My cliildren give me your hearts, and this is 
suffic lent. So by this, they may swear and curse, steal 
and murder, and commit most heinous crimes, if they 
keep their liearts for the pope; that is enough to be 
saved. Observe this doctrine, and I leave it to you, 
reader, whether such an opinion is according to God^s 
will, nay, to natural reason, or not ? 

The article of the bull for the year of Jubilee doth 
contain these words: If any cbrisiian and professor of 
our catholic faith, going to the holy land to tiie war 
against the Turks, and infidels, or in tlie year of Ju- 
bilee to our city of Rome, should happen to die in tlie 
way, we declare that his soul goes straightway to hea- 

\vn. 
The preachers of tlie holy cruzadc, ia tlicir circuits^ 

are careful in specifying in their sermons, all these 
graces and indulgences, to encourage the people, ei- 
ther to go to the war, or to take more bulls than one. 
With this croud of litanies and pardons, the pope blinds 
the common people, and increases his treasure. 

In tills same first article of our present bull, it is 
said, that the same graces and indulgences are grant- 
ed to all those, who, t bo ugh they do not go personally, 
should send another upon their own expcnces ; and 
that if he be a cardinal, primate, patriarcii, archbish- 
op, bishop, son of a king, prince, duke, marquis, or 
carl, he must send ten, or at least four soldiers, and the 
Vest of the people one, or one between ten. 

Observe now, that according to the rules of their 
morality, no man can merit by an involuntary action; 
because, as they say, he is compelled and forced to do 



TO POPERY. 149 

it* How tlieii, can this noble people merit, or obtain 
such graces and indulgences, when they do not act vo- 
luntarily : for if we mind the pope's expression, he 
compels and forces them to send ten soldiers, or at 
least four : they have no liberty to the contrary, and 
consequently they cannot merit by it. I wish to God, 
they would make use of another rule of their morality 
and of ours too : Tim vi rejfellere HceU 

The second article of this hull. 

The pope compriseth in this commaiid of sending 
one soldier, chapters, parish churches, convents of fri- 
ars, and monasteries of nuns, without excepting the 
mendicant orders : but the pope in tins doth favour the 
ecclesiastical persons more than the laity, for as to the 
laity, he says, that three or four may join- togetber 
and send one soldier: and as to the ecclesiastical per- 
sons, he enlargeth this to ten persons, tliat if between 
them, ten do send one soldier, they all, and the person 
sent by them, obtain the said graces. I do believe there 
is great injnstice done to the laity: for these have fa- 
milies to maintain, and the ecclesiastics have not, and 
the greatest part of the riches are in their liands. This 
I can aver, that I read in the chronicjr^s of t!ic Francis- 
can order, written by Fr. Anthony Porcz, of the same 
order, wl^ere, extolling and praising the providence of 
God upon the Franciscan friars, he says, that the ge- 
neral of St. Francis's order doth rule and govern con- 
tinually 600,000 friars in Christendom, who having no- 
thing to live upon, God takes care of them, and all are 



J 50 A MASTER-KEY 

well clothed aiul maintained. There are in the Ro* 
man catholic religion seventy different orders, govern- 
ed by seventy regular generals, who, after six years 
of cominand, are made either bishops or cardinals. I 
say this by the by, to let the public know the great 
number of priests and friars, idle and needless people 
in that religion; for if in one order only there is 
000,000 friars, how many shall be found in seventy 
different orders^ I am sure if tlie pope would command 
the fiftieth part of them to go to this hcdy war, the la- 
ity would be relieved, tiie king would liave a great 
deal more powerfid army, and his dominions would 
not be so much embroiled with divisions, nor so full of 
vice and debauchery, as they are now. 

The third article. 

It is lawful for the priests and friars to go to this 
war to preach the word of God in it, or serve, or help 
in it, without incurring irregularity. They preach, 
and encourage the soldiers to kill the enemies of their 
religion, and to make use of whatever means they can 
for it, for in so doing there is no sin, but a great ser- 
vice done to God. 

Out of this war, if a priest strikes another and there 
is mutilation, or if he encourage another to revenge or 
murder, he incurs irregularity, and he cannot perform 
any ecclesiastical or divine service, till he is absolved 
by the pope, or his deputy : but in the war against the 
enemies of their religicai, nay, out of tlie war, they 
advise them to murder them, as I have said before, 



TO POPERY. 151 

and this without incurring irregularity. blindness 
of heart ! he endeth this article, by excusing the sol- 
diers from fasting when they are in the army, but not 
when they are out of it ; a strange thing, that a man 
should command more than God. Our Saviour Jesus 
Christ commands us to fast from sin, not from meat, 
but of this in another article. 

The fourth article* 

In this article the pope compriseth all the people, 
and puts them upon double charges and expences, for 
besides the contribution for a soldier, every body must 
tiike the bull if he will obtain the said graces, and must 
give two reals of plate, i. e. thirteen pence half-penny* 
This is a bitter and hard thing for the people : but 
see how the pope sweetens it. I grant, besides the said 
graces, to all those that should take this bull and give 
the charity undermentioned, that even in the time of 
the suspension of divine and ecclesiastical service, they 
may hear and say mass, and other devotions, &c.- 
Charity must be voluntary to be acceptable to God: 
how then can he call it charity, when the people must 
pay for the bull, or some of their goods shall be sold? 
And not only this, but that their corpse cannot be bu- 
ried in sacred ground without it, as is expressed in the 
fifth article. 

The sixth article. 

The pope doth excuse all that take this bull not on- 
ly from fasting^ but he gives them license to eat flesh 



15^ A MASTER-KEY 

in Lent, by the consent of both physicians, spiritual 
iind temporal. This is, if a man is sick, he must coa- 
sult the physician, whether he may eat flesh or rK>t ; 
and if the piiysician gives liis consent, he must ask his 
father confessor's consent too, to eat flesh in Lent and 
other days of ecclesiastical prohibition. Only a stupid 
man will not find out the trick of this granting, for in 
the first place, necessitas caret lege ; necessity know» 
no law: if a man is sick he is excused by the law of 
God; nay, by the law of nature from hurtful things; 
nay, he is obliged in conscience to preserve his Jiealth 
by using all sorts of lawful means. This is a maxim 
received among the Romans, as well as among us. 
What occasion is there then of the pope's and both the 
pliysiciaiis' license to do such a thing? Or if there is 
so great power in the bull, why doth not the pope 
grant them licence absolutely, without asking consent 
of botl\^p!iysicians ? We may conclude that such peo- 
ple must he blindly superstitious or deeply ignorant. 

But this great priviledge must be understood only 
for the laity, not for the secular, nor regular priests^ 
except the cardinals who are not mentioned here, the 
knights of the military order, and those that are sixty 
years of age and above. But the priests and friars> 
liotwithstanding this express prohibition, if they have 
a mind, do evade it on i)retence of many light distem- 
pers, of the assiduity of their studies, or exercise of 
preaching the Lent sermons; and by these and other, 
as they think, weiglity reasons, they got a license to 
eat flesh in Lent. So we see, that they will preach to 
the people obedience to all the commandments of the 



TO POPERY, 153 

I)ope, and they do disobey themj tliey preacli so, be- 
cause they have private ends and interests in so do- 
ing ; but they do not observe them themselves, because 
they are against their inclinations, and without any 
profit, and so advising the people to mind them, they 
do not mind them themselves. 

Tht seventh and eighth articles. 

To the same, the pope grants fifteen years, and fif- 
teen quarantains of pardon, and all the penances not 
yet performed by them, &c. Observe tlie ignorance of 
that people : the pope grants them fifteen years and 
fifteen quarantains of pardon by this bull, and they 
are so infatuated, that they take it every year ; indeed 
they cannot desire m(;re tlian the free and general par- 
don of sins; and if they do obtain it by one bull for 
fifteen years and fifteen quarantains, what need of 
occasion have they for a yearly bull? Perhaps some 
are so stupid as to tliink to heap up pardons dur- 
iiig this life for the next world, or to leave them 
to their children and relations : but observe like- 
wise, that to obtain this, they must fast for devotion's 
sake some days not prohibited by the church. They 
do really believe, that keeping themselves within the 
rules of ecclesiastical fasting, they merit a great deal: 
but God knows, for, as tliey say, the merit is ground- 
ed in the morlification of the body, and by this rule, I 
will convince them, that tliey cannot merit at all. 

For let us know how they do fast ? and what, and 
how they do eat ? Now I will give a true account of 
their fasting in general ; the rules which must be ob- 
served in a right fasting are these. In the morning it 



15^ A MASTER-KEY 

is allowed by all tlie casuistical authors, to drink what- 
ever a body hath a mind for, and eat an ounce of 
bread, which they call parva materia^ a small matter. 
And as for the drink, they follow the pope's declaration 
concerning chocolate : give me leave to acquaint you 
with the cnse. 

When the chocolate begun to be introduced, the Je- 
suits' opinion was, that being a great nourisliment, it 
could not be drank without breaking fast : but the lov- 
ers of it proposing the case fo tlie pope, he ordered to 
be brought to him all the ingredientiJ of which the cho- 
colate is made, which being accordingly done, the 
pope di'ank a cup and decided the dispute, saying, 
potus 71011 f rangit jejimium : liquid doth not break fast- 
ing, which declaration is a maxim put into all their 
moral sums : and by it every body may lawfidly drink 
as many cups as he pleases, and eat an ounce of bread, 
as a small matter in the morning: and by the same 
rule any body may drink a bottle of wine or two, with- 
out breaking his fasting; for liquid doth not break 
fasting. 

At noon they may eat as much as they can of all 
sorts of things, except flesh : and at night, it is allow- 
ed not to sup, but to take something by way of colla- 
tion : in this point of collation, the casuits do not agree 
together ; for some say that nobody can lawfully eat 
but eight ounces of dry and cold things, as bread, wal- 
nuts, raisins, cold fried fishes, and the like : other au-» 
thors say, that the quantity of this collation must be 
measured with the constitution of the person who fasts: 
for if the person is of a gtrong constitution, tall, and 



TO POPERY. IBS 

of a good appetite, eight ounces are not enough, and 
twelve must be allowed to such a man, and so of the 
rest. This is the form of their fasting in general: 
though some few religious and devout persons eat but 
one meal a day: nay, some used to fast twenty -four 
liouvs without eating any thing ; but this is once in a 
year, wnich they call a fast with the bells, that is, in 
the lioly week ; among other ceremonies, the Roman 
catholics put the consecrated host or wafer in a rich 
urna or box, on Thursday, at twelve o'clock in the 
morning ; and they take it out on Friday at the same 
time : these twenty-four hours every body is in mourn- 
ing, nay, the altars are veiled, and the monument 
where they place the image of our Saviour upon the 
cross, is all covered with black : the bells are not 
heard all this while ; and, as I said, many use to fast 
•with the bells ; and they make use of this expression 
to signify that they fast twenty-four hours without eat- 
ing any thing at all. 

From these we may easily know whether their bo- 
dies are mortified with fasting or not? For how can a 
man of sense say, that he mortifies his body with fast- 
ing, when he drinketh two or three cups of chocolate, 
w ith a small toast in the morning, eats as much as he 
can at dinner, and eight ounces at night : add to this, 
that he may sit in company and eat a crust of bread, 
and drink as many bottles of wine as he will, this is 
not accounted collation, because liquid doth not break 
fasting. This is the form of their fasting, and the 
rules they must observe in it, and this is reckoned a 
meritorious work, and therefore doing this, they ob- 
tain the said indulgences and pardons of this bull. 



156 A MASTER-KEY 

Observe likewise, that the Roman catholics of Spain 
are allowed to eat, in some days prohibited by tlie 
church, and especially Saturdays, the following things: 
the head and pluck of a sheep, a cheevclct of a fowl, 
and the like; nay, they may boil a leg of mutton, and 
drink the broth of it. This toleration of eating such 
things was granted by the pope to king Ferdinand, 
who being in a warm war against the Moors, the sol- 
diers suffered very much in the days of fasting for 
want of fish, and other tilings eatable for such days ; 
and for this reason the pope did grant him and his ar- 
my license to eat the above-mentioned things on Sa- 
turdays, and other days of fasting commanded by the 
church ; and this was in the year 1479. But this tole- 
ration only to the army was introduced among the 
country people, especially in both Old and New Cas- 
tile, and this custom is become a law among them. 
But this is not so in other provinces in Spain, where 
the common people have not the liberty of eating such 
things ; among the quality, only those that have a par- 
ticular dispensation from the pope for them and their 
families. 

There is an order of friars, called La ordar de la 
Victoria^ the order of the victory ; whose first founder 
was St. Francis de Paula, and the friars are prohibit- 
ed by the rules, statutes and constitution of the order, 
to eat flesh ; nay, this prohibition stands in force dur- 
ing their lives, as it is among the Carthusians, who 
though in great sickness, cannot eat any thing of flesh; 
but this must be understood within the convent's gate; 
for when they go abroad they may eat any tiling, with- 
out transgressing the statute of the order. 



TO POPERY. ±BT 

But the pleasantness of their practices will shew the 
tricks of that religion. As to the Victorian friars, I 
knew in Zaragossa one father Conchillos, professor 
•of divinity in his convent, learned in their way, but a 
pleasant companion : he was, by his daily exercise of 
the public lecture, confined in his convent every day in 
tlie afternoon; but as soon as the lecture w^as over, his 
thought and care was to divert himself with music, 
gaming, &c. One evening, having given me an invi- 
tation to his room, I went accordingly, and there was 
notliing wanting of all sorts of recreation j music, 
cards, comedy, and very good, merry compaiiy : we 
went to supper, which was composed of nice, delicate, 
eatable things, both of flesh and fish, and for the desert 
the best sweetmeats. But observing at supper, that 
my good Conchillos did use to take a leg of partridge 
and go to the window, and come again and take a 
wing of a fowl, and do the same; I asked him whether 
lie had some beggar in the street, to whom he threw 
the leg and wing? No, said he : What then do you do 
with them out of the window 1 Why, said he, I cannot 
eat flesh within the walls, but the statute of my order 
doth not forbid me to eat it without the walls ; and so, 
v/henever we have a fancy for it, we may eat it, put- 
ting our heads out of the window. Thus they give a 
turn to the law, but a turn agreeable to them: and so 
they do in all their fastings and abstinences from 
flesh. 

As to the Carthusians, and their abstinence and 
fasting, I could say a great deal, but am afraid I should 
swell this treatise beyond its designed size, if I 

O 



15S A MASTER-KEY 

sliould amuse you with an account of all tbeir ridicu- 
lous ways; Tliis I cannot pass by, for it Cv; ..uceth 
very much to the clearing this point of abstinence and 
fasting. This order's constitution is, first, a continii- 
al abstinence from flesh : and this is observed so se- 
verely and strictly, that I knev/ a friar, wlio, being 
dangerously ill, the physicians did order to apply, up- 
on his head, a young pigeon, opened alive at the breast; 
Avhich being proposed by tlie prior to the whole com- 
munity, they were of opinion that such a remedy was 
against the constitution, and therefoi*e not fit to be us- 
ed any way : that those poor friars must die rather 
than touch any flesldy thing, though it be for the pre- 
serving their health. 

Secondly. Perpetual silence and confinement is the 
next precept of St. Brune, their founder : that is, that 
the friars cannot go abroad out of the convent, or gar- 
den w alls, only the prior and procurator may go upon 
business of the community. The rest of the friars' 
lives are thus : eacli of them have an apartment with 
a room, bed-chamber, kitchen, cellar, closet to keep 
fruit in, a garden, with a well, and a place in it for fir- 
ing. Next to t]\e apartment's door there is a wheel in 
the wall, which serves to put the victuals in at noon, 
and at night, and the friar turns the wheel, and takes 
his dinner and supper, and in the moniing he puts the 
plates in the wiiecl, by whicli tlie servant that carries 
the victuals, knows th^y are in good health; and if 
he finds the victuals again, he acquaints t!ie father pri- 
or with it, who strait goes to visit them. The prior 
has a maBtcr-kev of all the rooms., for the friars are 



TO POPT^RY. 159 

obliged to lock the door on the inside, and to keep tlie 
room always shut, except when they go to say mass iu 
the morning, and to say the canonical hours in the day 
time; then, if they meet one another, they can say no 
other woi*tls but these : one says, brother, we must die, 
and the other answers, we know it. Only on Thurs- 
xlay, between three and four in the afternoon, they meet 
together for an hour's time, and if it be fair weather^ 
they go to walk in the garden of the convent, and if 
Hot, in the common hall, where they cannot talk of 
other things but of the lives of such or such a saint ; 
and wlien the hour is over, every one goes into his 
own chamber. So they do observe fasting and silence 
continually, but, except flesh, they do eat the most ex- 
quisite and delicate tilings in the world ; for commonly 
in one convent there are but twenty friars, and there 
is not one convent of Carthusians, waiich hath not five, 
six, and many twenty thousand pistoles of yearly 
rent. 

Such is their fasting from flesli and conversation? 
but let us know their fasting from sins. 

Dr. Peter Bernes, secular priest, belonging to the 
parish church of the blessed Mary JIagdalene (as they 
call her) being 32 years of age, and dangerously 
ill, made a vow to the glorious saint, that if he should 
recover from that sickness, he would retire into a Car- 
thusian convent. He recovered, and accordingly, re- 
nouncing his benefice and the world, he took the Car- 
thusian habit, in the convent of the Conception, tliree 
miles from Zaragossa. For the space of three years, 
he gave proofs of virtue and singular conformity with 



160 A MASTER-KEY 

the statutes of the order. His strict life Was so crowd- 
ed witii disciplines and mortifications, that the prior 
gave out in the city, that he was a saint on earth. I 
went to see him, with the father prior's consent, and 
indeed 1 thought there was something extraordinary 
in his countenance, and in his words; and I had taken 
liim myself for a man ready to work miracles. Many 
people went to see him, and among the crowd a young 
woman, acquainted with him before he took the habit, 
who, unknown to the strict friars, got into his cham- 
ber, and there she was kept by the pious father eigh- 
teen months. In that time the prior usedlto visit him 
in his chamber, but the Senora was kept in the bed- 
cl^amber, till at last the prior went one night to con- 
sult liim upon some business, and hearing a child cry, 
asked him wliat was the matter ; and though my friend 
Bernes endeavoured to conceal the case, the prior 
found it out, and she, owning the thing, was turned 
out with the child, and the father was confined forever; 
and this was his virtue, fasting, and abstinence from 
flesh, &c. 

To those that either do fast, in the abovesaid man- 
ner, or keep fasting for devotion's sake, his holiness 
grants (taking this bull of cruzade) all the said graces, 
pardons and indulgences: and really, if such graces 
were of some use or benefit, the people tlius doing, do 
want them very much; or may be, the pope knowing 
these practices, doth this out of pity and compassion 
for their souls, without thinking that this bjidl is a 
great encouragement and incitement to sin« 



TO POPERY. 161 

The ninth article. . 

Tilts article contains, first, that to pray with more 
puriiy, every body taking this bull may choose a con- 
fessor to his own fancy, who is empowered to absolve 
all sins, except the crime of heresy, reserved to the 
pope or apostolical see. You must know, what they 
mean by the crime of. heresy : Salazar, Irribarren and 
Corella, treating of the reserved sins, do say, that the 
crime of heresy is. If I am all alone in my room, and 
the door being locked up, talking by myself; I say, I 
do not believe in God, or in tlie pope of Rome, this 
is heresy. They distinguish two sorts of lieresy; one 
interna, and another externa, that is public and secret. 
The public heresy^ such as that I have now" told you 
of, nobody can absolve but the pope himself. The se- 
cond being only in thought, every body can absolve, 
being licensed by the bishop, by the benefit of this bull. 
So, wiioever pronounces " The pope is not infallible : 

» The English or protestants may be saved : The virgin 
Mary is not to be prayed to : The priest hath not 
power to bring Jesus Christ down from heaven, with 
five words ;'^ such an one is a public heretic, and he 
must go to Rome, if he desires to get absolution. 

Secondly. This article contains, that by the benefit 
of this bull, every body may be free from restitution 
during his own life; and that he may make it by his 

theirs after his death. O what an unnatural thing is 
this ! What! if I take away from my neighbour three 
liundred pounds, which is all he haih in tlie World to 
maiiitain his family, must I be free from this restitu- 



162 A MASTER-KEY 

tion, and leave it to my heir's will to make it after my 
death ? Must I see my neiglibour's family suffer by it; 
and can I be free before God, of a thing that nature 
and humanity require of me to do ? Indeed this is a di- 
abolical doctrine* Add to this, what I have said of the 
bull of composition, that is, if you take so many bulls 
to compound the matter with your confessor, you will 
be free forever from making restitution : but really 
you shall not be free from th€ eternal punishment. 

LikQ\vi»e, by the power of this bull, any confessor 
may commute any vow, except those of chastity, reli- 
gion and beyond seas : but this is upon condition that 
they should give something for the cruzadc. God, 
what expression is this! To commute any vow, ex- 
cept those of chastity, &c. So, if I make a vow to kill 
a man, if I promise wpon oath to rob my neighbour, 
the confessor may commute me these vows, for six- 
pence: but if I vow to keep chastity, I must go to 
Rome to the pope himself? What expression is this? 
I say again, how many millions have vowed chastity? 
If I say tvvo millions, I shall not lie : and how many 
®f these two millions do observe it ? If I say 500, I 
shall not lie: and for all this, we see nobody go ta 
Kome for absolution. 

The Roman catholics will say, that by these words, 
vow of chastity, must be only understood abstaining 
ft'om m?an*iage ; but I will leave it to any man of rea- 
^n, whether the nature of chastity compriseth only 
tljat? r; let me ask the Roman cathorns, whethei? 
a priest, \yho hath made a vow of chastity, that 



TO POPERY. 163 

is, never to marry, if he commits the sins of the flesh, 
will he accounted chaste or not ? They will and must 
say, not. Then, if so many thousands of priests do 
live lewdly, hreaking the vow of chastity, why do they 
not go to the pope for absolution ? To this they never 
can answer me ; therefore the pope, in this bull, doth 
blind them, and the priests do what they please, and 
only the common people are imposed upon, and suffer 
by it. God Almiglity, by his infinite power,. enlight- 
en them all ! that so the priests may be more sincere, 
and the people less darkened. 

The tenth article. 

The pope grants the same indulgences to those that 
should die suddenly, if they die heartily sorry for their 
sins. Of this 1 have spoken already, and said, that if 
a man dies truly penitent he hath no occasion for the 
pope's pardon, for his true penitence hath more inter- 
est (if 1 may thus express myself) with God Almigh- 
ty, than the pope with all his infallibility. So I pro- 
eeed to tlie next, which is 

The eleventh article. 

In this article the pope grants, besides the said In- 
^lulgences, to those that take this bull, that they may 
twice more in tiie same year, be absolved of all their 
sins, of what nature soever, once more during theii? 
lives, and once more at tlie point of death. This is a 
bold saying, and full of assurance. O poor, blind peo- 
ple ! Where have you your eyes or understanding I 



16i A MASTER-KEY 

Mind, I pray you, for tlie light of your conscieaces, 
this impudent way of deceiving you, and go along 
with me. The pope has granted you, in the aforesaid 
aii:icles, all you can wish for, and now again he grants 
you a nonsensical privilege, viz. that you may twice 
at the imint of death, be absolved of all your sins. Ob- 
serve, passing by, that a simple priest, who hath not 
been licensed by the ordinary to hear confessions, up- 
on urgent necessity, i. e. upon the point of death, is 
allowed by all tlie casuistical authors, nay, by the 
councils, to absolve all sins whatsoever, if there be 
not present another licensed priest. Again, nobody 
can get such absolution as is expressed in this bull, 
but at the point of his souFs departing from the body^ 
i. e. when there is no hopes of recovery ; and the con- 
fessors are so careful in tliis point, that sometimes 
lltey begin to pronounce the absolution, wlien a man 
is alive, and he is dead before they finish the words. 

Now, pray tell me, how can a man be twice in such 
a point ? And if he got once as much, as he cannot get 
the second time, what occasion hath he for the second- 
full, free, and plenary indulgence, aijd absolution of 
all his sins ? I must stop here, for if I were to tell free- 
ly my opinion upon this point, some will think I do it 
out of some private ends ; which I never do upon de- 
livering of matters of fact* 



*Q 



The twelfth m'ticlCa 

Here the most holy father gives his power and au- 
tliorlty to the general apostolical commissary of the 



TO POPERY. 16^ 

eriizade, and all other graces and faculties, to revoke 
and suspend all the graces and indulgences granted in 
this bull, by his holiness, during the year of publish- 
ing it ; and not only to suspend them, upon any restric- 
tion or limitation, but absolutely, though this, or any 
other bull, or brief of indulgences, granted by -this or 
other popes, did contain words contrary to it, viz^ 
Suppose if Clement, or anotlier pope, should say, I 
grant to such an one such faculties, and 1 anathema- 
tize all those that should attempt to suspend the said 
faculties ; tliis last expression would be of no force 
at all, because this bidl specifies the contrary. 

So it is a thing very remarkable, that the pope dis* 
possesseth iiimself, by this bull, of all his power and 
authority, and giveth it to the general apostolical com- 
missary, insomuch tiiat the apostolical commissary 
hath more power than the pope himself, during the 
year: and tiiis power and autliority is renewed and 
confirmed to him by his holiness. And not oidy he hav*^ 
this power over the pope, but over all the popes, and 
tlieir briefs, in whatsoever time granted to any place, 
or person Vhatsoever. For it is in the apostolical 
commissary's power to suspend all graces and privi- 
leges whatsoever, granted since the first pope began 
to grant indulgences, wliich things are all inconsistent 
.with the independency and supremacy of the holy fa- 
ther ^ nay, according to the principles and sentiments 
of tiieir own authors, but we see, they are consistent 
with their blindness and ignorance. 



166 A MASTER-KEY 

The thirteenth article. 

This article sheweth us plainly the reason, why the 
pope acts thus in the granting of his power to the ge- 
I) ral apostolical commissary of the cruzade, for he 
grants him authority to revoke and suspend all the fn- 
dulgences here granted by himself and other popes^ 
but he grants him tlie same authority to call again the 
very same indulgences, and to make them good again. 
And next to this power, (observe this) he grants him 
and his deputies power to fix a^id settle the price or 
charity, the people ought to give for the bull. This is 
the whole matter, and we may use the English saying. 
No cure, no pay, quite reverse, No pay, no cure, no 
indulgence nor pardon of sins. The treasure of the 
church, being a spiritual gift, cannot be sold for mo- 
ney, without simony. And if the Romans say that the 
pope has that power derived from Christ, or givei\^* 
gratis to him, let them mind the words, ^uod gratis 
accepisteSf gratis date. If the pope payeth nothing for 
having such power, if he has it gratis, why does he 
sell it to the faithful ? Can a private man, or his depu- 
ty put a price on a spiritual thing! O blindness of 
heart! 

The fourteenth article. 

In this article the general apostolical commissary 
makes use of his power and authority, he says, ^^ In 
favour of this holy bull, we do suspend, during the 
year, all the graces, indulgences, and faculties of this, 
or any other kind, k,c. Though they be in favour of 



TO POPEIIY. ley 

the building of St* Petei*'s cluirch at Rome. Except 
only from this suspension the privileges granted to the 
superiors of the mendicant orders." He excepts only 
from this suspension the privileges of the four mendi- 
cant orders, because, the friars of those orders, being 
menclicauts or beggars, they can be no great hindrance 
of this project. 1 ask my coriiitrymen tliis question : 
if Don Francis Antony Riiiairez has such a power to 
do and undo, in despite of the pope, whatever he 
pleases for a wliole year, and this power is renewed to 
him every year by a fresh bull, of what use is the pope 
in Spain ? And if he has resigned his authority to Don 
Ramirez, why do they send every year to Rome for 
privileges, dispensations, faculties, bulls, &c. and 
throw their money away ? If Ramirez has powder to 
stop, and make void any concession by the pope, what 
need have they for so great trouble and expense? Is 
not this a great stupidity and infatuity ? Observe the 
next article. 

"f he fifteenth artide. 

All these prohibitions and suspensions aforemen« 
tioned, are only to oblige the people to take the bull; 
for the general apostolical commissary says, ^^ we de- 
clare, that all those that take this bull do obtain and 
enjoy all the graces and faculties, &c. which have been 
granted by the popes Paul the V. and Urbanus VIII. 
&c." So if a poor man takes no bull, though he be 
heartily penitent, there is no pardon for him. I say, 
there is no pardon for him from the pope and his com- 
missary, but there is surely pardon for him from Godj 



168 A MASTER-KEY 

and he is in a better way^ than all the bigots that take 
tlie bull, thinking to be free by it from all their sins. 

Observe also the last words of this article : " We 
command that every body that takes this bull, be oblig- 
ed to keep by liim the same, which is here printed, 
signed and sealed with our name and seal ; and that 
otherwise they cannot 6btain nor enjoy the benefit of 
it/^ This is a cheat, robbery and roguery ; for the 
design of the general apostolical commissary is, to 
oblige tliem to take another bull. The custom is, that 
when tliey take ^very year a new bull, they ought to 
show^ the old one, or else they must take two that year. 
Now let us suppose that all the contents of the bull are 
as efficacious as the bigots believe them to be. A man 
takes the bull, pays for it, and performs and fulfilleth 
the contents of it. Is not this enough to enjoy all the 
graces, &c.? What is the meaning then of command- 
ing to keep the same bull by them, but a cheat, robbe- 
ry and roguery ? I do not desire better proof of this, 
than what the commissary affords me in his following 
words, by which he contradicts himself. He says, 
«^and whereas you (speaking with Peter de Zuloaga, 
who was the man that took the bull which is left at 
the publisher's sliop) have given two reals of plate, 
and have taken this bull, and your name is written in 
it, we declare that you have already obtained and are 
granted the said indulgences, &c. And that you may 
enjoy and make use of them, &c.'' 

If he has already obtained all, of what ifee can it be 
to keep the bull by him ? How can the commissary 
make these expressions agree together? 1st. *rlf he 



TO POPERY. 169 

doth not keep the bull by him, he cannot enjoy the be- 
nefit of it. 2d. As soon as he takes the bull, he has 
already obtained all tlie graces, &c. and enjoys the be- 
nefit of it." These are two quite contrary things. Then 
the design in tlie first is robbery and roguery, and in 
the second, cheat, fraud and deceit. 

Reflect again : " Whereas you have taken the buU^ 
and payed for it, you have already obtained all the in- 
dulgences and pardon of sins." By this declaration in- 
fallible to the Romans, let a man come from commit- 
ting murder, adultery, sacrilege, &c. if he takes and 
pays for the bull, his sins are already pardoned. Is 
not this a scandalous presumption? If a man is in % 
state of sin, and has no repentance in his heart, how 
can such a man be pardoned at so cheap a rate as 
two reals of plate ? If this was sure and certain, the 
whole world would embrace their religion, for then 
they would be sure of their salvation. Again, if 
they believe this bull to be true, how can they 
doubt of their going to heaven immediately after 
death ? For a man whose sins are pardoned, goes 
straightway to heaven j so if the sips of all men 
and women (for every body takes the bull) are 
pardoned by it, and consequently go to heaven, why 
do they set up a purgatory ? Or why are they afraid 
afhell? 

Let us say, that we may suspect, that this bull sends 

more people into hell, than it can save from it; for it 

is the greatest encouragement to sin in the world. A 

3nan says, I may satisfy my lusts and passions^ I may 

V 



±76 A MASTER-KEY 

commit all wickedness, and yet I am sure to be par- 
doned of all, by the taking of this bull for two reals of 
plate. By the same rule, their consciences cannot be 
under any remorse nor trouble ; for if a man commits 
a great sin, he goes to confess, he gets absolution, he 
has by him this bull or permission to sin, and his con- 
science is at perfect ease, insomuch that after he gets 
absolution, he may go and commit new sins, and go 
again for absolution. 

If we press the Rcmian catholic priests Avith these 
reflections and arguments, especially those of good 
sense, they will answer, that they do not believe any 
such thing ; for if a man (say they) doth not repent 
truly of his sins, he is not pardoned by Ood, though 
he be absolved by the confessor. Well, if it is so, why 
does the pope, by his general apostolical commissary, 
feay, " Whereas you have taken and paid for this bull, 
you have already obtained pardon of your sins, &c.?" 
We must come then to say, that the cheat, fraud and 
cleceit, is in the pope, and that Don Ramirez is the 
pope^s instrument to impose so grossly upon the poor 
Spaniards. Let the Romans call him holy, and most 
holy father, the truth is, that he, affronting God and 
our Saviour, in so high a degree, is in this particular, 
a devilish and most hellish father. 

The form of absolution follows after the articles, on 
which you may make as many remarks as you please. 
For my part, I am full of confusion to remember the 
ignorance I w as in, when I was of that communion, . 
The confessor grants free and full indulgence and par- 
don of all sins, and of all the pains and punishments- 



TO POPERY. 171 

which the penitent was ohliged to endure for them in 
purgatory. By virtue of this absolution then, we may 
say, no soul goes to purgatory, especially out of the 
dominions of the king of Spain, for as I said, in tlie iie- 
ginning of the explanation of the bull, every living 
soul, from seven years of age and upwards, is obligee! 
» to take the bull, and consequently, if every soul ob* 
tains the grant of being pardoned of all the pains which 
they were to endure and suffer in purgatory, all goto 
heaven. Why do the priests ask masses, and say them 
for the relief of the souls in purgatory? 

Let us from these proceed to the sum of the estati- 
ons and indulgences granted to the city of Rome, which 
the pope grants likewise to all those that take the bull 
and fulfil the contents of it. 

Estations, in this place, signify the going from one 
church to another, in remembrance of Christ^s being, 
or remaining so long on mount Calvary, so long in 
the garden, so long on the cross, so long in the sepul* 
chre. 

We call also estations, or to walk the estations, to 
go from the first cross to the mount Calvary, &c. 
This is a new thing to many of this kingdom, therefore ^ 
a plain account of that custom among the Romans will 
not be amiss in this place. 

There is, in every city, town and village, a mount 
Calvary out of the gates, in remembrance of the Cal- 
vary where our Saviour v/as crucified. There are 
fourteen crosses, placed at a distance from one another. 
The first cross is out of the gates, and from the first 
to the second, the Romans reckon so many steps or 



172 A MASTER-KEY 

pace«, more or less, from the second to the third, ami 
so on from one to another of the remaining, till they 
come to the the twelfth cross, which is in the middle 
of two others, which represent the tw^o crosses, where 
the malefactors were crucified on each side of Christ, 
They walk these twelve estations in remembrance of 
all the steps and paces our Saviour walked from the 
gate of the city of Jerusalem to mount Calvary, where 
lie was crucified. In the first estation, you will see the 
image of Jesus, with the cross on his shoulders, in the 
second, falling down, &c. In the last cross, or last cs- 
tation of the three crosses, Jesus is represented cru- 
cified between two malefactors. 

Every Friday in the year the devout people walk 
tlie estations, and kneel down before every cross, and 
say so many pater-nosters, &c. and a prayer for the 
meditation of w hat happened to our Jesus at that dis- 
tance. When the weather prevents the people going to 
the great Calvary, they have another in every church, 
and in the cloisters of the convents, and monasteries, 
and they walk the estations there. And especially in 
Lent, there is such a crowd of people every Friday in 
the afternoon, that there is scarcely room in the high- 
way for all to kneel down. 

On good Friday in the evening is the great proces- 
sibn, at which almost all the people assist with Ian- 
thorns in their hands. The people, both men and wo- 
men, old and young, go to church in the afternoon : 
the parish minister drest in a surplice, and a sacerdo- 
tal cloak on, and a square black cap on his head, and 
the rest of the clergy iii their surplices, and the reve- 



TO POPERY- irs 

reud father preacher in his habit. This last begins 
a short exhortation to the people, recommending to 
them devotion, humility, and meditation of our Savi- 
our's sufferings ; after he has done, the prior of the 
fraternity of the blood of Christ ordereth the processi* 
on in this manner: first of all, at the head of it, a man 
in a surplice carries the cross of the parish, and two 
boys on each side with high lanthorns, immediately 
after begins the first estation of our Saviour, painted 
in a standard, which one of the fraternity carrieth, and 
the brethren of that estation follow him in two lines : 
and the twelve estations, ordered in the same manner 
follow one another. After the estations, there is a maa 
representing Jesus Christ, drest in a tunica, or Naza- 
rene'sgown, with a crown of thorns on his head, that 
carrieth on his shoulders a long heavy cross, and ano- 
ther man representing Simon of Cirene behind, helps 
the Nazarene to carry the cross. After him the 
preacher, clergy, and parish minister, and after them 
all the people, without keeping any form or order. 
Thus the procession goes out of the church, singing a 
proper song of the passion of Jesus ; and when they 
come to the first cross of the estations of Calvary, the 
procession stops there, and the preacher makes an ex- 
hortation, and tells what our Saviour suffered till that 
^Irst step, and making the same exhortations in each 
of the eleven crosses : when they come to the twelfth, 
the preacher, on the foot of the cross, which is placed 
between the two crosses of the malefactors, begins the 
sermon of the passion and sufferings of Clirist, and 
when he has doiie, the procession comes back again to 

P 2 



i7^ AMlSTER-KEY 

the cliul'cli, and there the preaclier dismisses the peo- 
ple with an act of contrition, which the people repeat 
after him. 

These are the estations of the holy Calvary: but 
besides these, there are the estations of the holy sepul- 
chre; that is, to visit seven churches, or seven times 
one church, on holy Thursday, when Jesus is in the 
monument: but of these tilings I shall treat in ano- 
ther place. 

Now, by these foregoing indulgences, and full par- 
don of sins, the pope doth grant to all those that take 
the bull, and fulfil the contents of it (wliich are only to 
pay for it) any body may easily know a list of the days 
in w^hich any one, that visits the churches mentioned 
in it, enjoys at Rome all the aforesaid faculties, par- 
don of sins, and indulgences, and as you may observe, 
at the end of the summario, tliat every day of the year 
there are at Rome, many indulgences and pardons 
granted in some church or other, to all those that go 
to visit them. So, by the grant of the pope, in the bull 
of cruzade, the same indulgences and pardons are giv- 
en, and in the same day (that is every day of the year) 
to all those that take the bull. From this any body 
may draw the same consequence as befoi'e, that a man 
cannot be afraid in the Romish church, of going to hell; 
he may commit every day all villanies in the world, 
and yet every day, having the bull, is sure of getting 
free and full pardon of his sins, and this without the 
trouble of going to confess : for if they will take the 
pains to read the contents of the bull, with a serious 
mind, they will find the truth of what I say : that- 



TO POPERY. 175 

witliout the trouble of confessing sins, any body obtains 
full pardon of all the crimes he has committed. 

For the general apostolical commissary (who has 
the pope's power and authority) says, that he that 
takes the bull, payeth for it, and writes his name in it, 
ij)So facto, i. e. already obtains all the indulgences and 
pardons of sins, &c. mentioned in the bull ; and he dotli 
not say, if he confesseth, or, if he is a liearty penitent^ 
but already, without any limitation or reservation, al- 
ready he enjoycth all, and may make use of all the 
graces, &c. So, by tlicse expressions, it appears that 
a man, taking the bull, paying for it, and writing his 
name in it, may commit murder and robbery, &c. and 
yet obtain every day free and full pardon of his sins, 
without the trouble of confessing them to a priest, who, 
if covetous, will ask money for absolution, or for 
masses, for the relief of the souls in purgatory. 

This I must own of my country people, that they arc 
kept in so great ignorance by the priests, that I might 
dare to say, tliat not one of a thousand that takes the 
bull, readeth it, but blindly submits to what the minis- 
ter of the parish tells him, without fu)*t!ier inquiry. 
This is a surprising thing to all the protestants, and 
it is now to me, but I cannot give other reasons for 
their ignorance in point of religion, as for the general- 
iy, but their bigotry and blind faith in what the 
preacliers and priests tell tliem; and, next to this, that 
it is not allowed to them to read the sc.-;pture, nor 
books of controversy about religion. 

I come now to the days in wliich every body takes 
a soul out of purgatory. Observe those marked with 



176 A MASTER-KEY 

a star, and besides them, there is in every convent 
and parish church jit least one privileged altar, i. eii^ 
any body that says five times Pater Noster, &c. and 
five times Ave Alaria> with Gloria Patria, &c. takes 
a soul out of purgatory, and this at any time, and in 
any day of tiie year, not only in Spain, by the virtue 
of the bull, but in Finance, Germany* Italy, and in all 
the Roman catholic countries where they have no bull 
of cruzade. From this, I say, that if there is any pur- 
gatory, it must be an empty place, or that it is impos- 
sible to find there any soul at all, and that the Roman 
catholics take every year more souls out of it, than 
can go into it : which I shall endeavour to prove by 
evident arguments, grounded on their principles and 
belief. 

First of all, there is in the bull nine days in the 
year in which every living person takes a soul out of 
purgatory, and by this undeniable truth among them- 
selves, it doth appear^ that every living person, man,, 
woman or child, from seven years of age and upwards, 
takes every year nine souls out of purgatory. 

Secondly. Every body knoweth the Roman catlio- 
lies' opinion, that nobody can be saved out of their 
communion ; and by this infallible (as they believe) 
principle, they do not allow any place in purgatory 
to the souls of protestants, and people of other profes- 
sions ; and so only Roman catholic souls are proprie- 
tors of that place of torment. 

Thirdly. It is undeniable by the Romans, that ever 
since that place of purgatory was built by the popes 
and councils, the Roman catholics have enjoyed the 



TO POPERY* 177 

granting of a ppivilcged altar in every church, that, 
by their prayers, the souls of their parents and friends 
may be relieved, and delivered out of that place. 

Fourthly. To this granting the popes have been so 
generous, that they have granted, in such days, spe- 
cial privileges to some churches, for all those that 
should visit them, to take souls out of purgatory. 

Fifthly. All the prayers said before such altars for 
such a soul in purgatory, if the soul is out of it, when 
tlie person says the prayers, those prayers go to the 
treasure of the church; and by this opinion, undenia- 
ble by fhem, the treasure of the church is well stocked 
with prayers, and when the pope has a mind to grant, 
at once, a million of prayers, he may take a million of 
^ouls out of purgatory. 

These five principles and observations are incon- 
testible by any of the Roman catholics. Now let us 
compute the number of Roman catholics that are alive, 
and the number of the dead every year. I say, com- 
pute, that is, suppose a certain number of the living 
and of the dead every year. And I begin with tiie 
kingdom of Spain, and its dominions, as the only par- 
takers of the privileges granted in the bull of cruzade. 

First. Let us suppose, that in the whole dominions 
of Spain, there are but six millions of living persons ; 
I speak of the Roman catholics : and that three milli- 
ons of those catholics die every year ; and that all their 
souls go to purgatory : for though the supposition is 
disadvantageous to my purpose, I will allow them more 
than they can expect. In the first place, by reasona- 
ble computation, half of the living persons do not dia 



±78 A MASTER-KEY 

every year : but I suppose this to make my argument 
so much the stronger. Secondly, in their opinion ve- 
ry many of the souls of those that die go to heaven, 
and some to hell, which is contrary to the bull. By 
tliis computation the three millions of people that re- 
main alive, by the bull take out of purgatory seven and 
twenty millions of souls tliat very year. For there 
are nine days fixed in the bull, on which every living 
person takes one soul out of purgatory ; if then, only 
three millions of people die every year, how can the 
three remaining alive take out twenty-seven millions ? 
it being impossible that there s^hould ^he more than 
three millions in purgatory tliat year. And besides this 
plain demonstration, and besides the nine days ap- 
pointed in the bull, according to their belief, and eve- 
ry day of the year, and, toties quoties^ they pray at a 
privileged altar, tliey take out of purgatory that soul 
for which they pray, or if that soul is not in purgato- 
ry, any other whicli they have a mind for, or else the 
prayer goes to the treasure of the church : and so, by 
this addition, we may say that if, out of tliree millions 
of persons, only half a million of people pray every 
day, this half million takes out of purgatory every 
year, 182 millions and a half of souls. If they scruple 
this number, let them fix any other number of living 
persons, and then multiply nine times more the num- 
ber of souls delivered out of purgatory every year, by 
virtue of the nine days mentioned in the bull; or by 
the privileged altars multiply one to 365 souls deliver- 
ed out of the flames every year, by every living per- 
son, as I shall demonstrate more plainly by and by* 



TO popery; 179 

As for France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and other 
Roman catholic countries, as I said before, they have 
their privileged altars to take a soul out of purgatory, 
Mies qiioties^ a Roman says so many Pater JVosters 
and Ave Marias hefore them. And so use the same 
multiplication to convince them, that there cannot be 
so many souls in purgatory as they deliver out of it 
every year, or that purgatory of course must be an 
empty place, &c. 

If they answer to this strong reason, that we must 
suppose for certain, that the souls of many millions of 
people, for many years past, are in purgatory, and 
that there is stock enough taken out of it every year, 
if there were ten times more living persons than there 
are now in the Roman catholic countries : I say, that 
the supposition has no room at all, and that it is im- 
possible ; for let us begin at the time when purgatory 
was first found out by the pope>, and let us suppose, 
gratis, that there is such a place, which we deny. 

The first year that imaginary place was settled 
among the Romans, the very same year the privileged 
altars were in fashion : the people that w^ere left alive 
that year, took out all the souls of the persons dead 
the same year, and more too, for as the new" privilege 
was granted then, every body was more charitable in 
taking the souls of their relations and friends out of 
suiBTerings at so cheap a rate as five Pater Nosters, &c. 
The next year the same, and so on, year by year, till 
the present time ; so that it is impossible to believe 
that there are a greater number of souls than of per- 
sons dead. 



ISO A MASTER-KEY 

I say again, that by these principles^ among tlie 
llomans, the catholics only of Spain and all the domi- 
nions belonging to it, are enough to deliver out of pur- 
gatory all the souls of all the catholics who have died 
since the beginning of the world in Christendom; and 
if what they believe is certain, it should be certain too, 
that since the bull is granted to the catholic kings and 
their dominions, which is since the reign of king Fer- 
dinand, the catholics, only the Spaniards, have deli* 
vered out of purgatory more souls than persons are 
dead since the universal flood ; for every living person, 
from that time till this present day, has taken out of 
purgatory, every year, 365 souls by the privileged al- 
tars, and nine more by virtue of the bull : now I leave 
to the curious reader to make use of the rule of multi- 
plication, and he will find clear demonstrations of my 
saying. I do not talk now of those innmnerable souls 
that are freed from this place every day of the year by 
the masses, leaving this for another place. 

Indeed I have searched among the sophistries of the 
Roman catholics, to see whether I could find some rea- 
son or answer to this, and I protest I could not find 
any ; for as 1 am sure they will endeavour to cloud this 
work with groundless subterfuges and sophistries, I 
was willing to prevent all sorts of objections, which may 
be made by them ; only one answer, which I may be- 
lieve they will give me, comes now into my head, and 
it is this, that as the Romans cannot answer any thing 
contrary to my demonstration, it is to be feared that 
they will say, that I reason and argue as an ignorant, 
because I do not know that the soul^ in purgatory are 



TO POPERY. 181 

iruitfu! beings, that one produces a great many little 
ones every year ; I say, it is to be feared, that being 
pressed, tliey must come at last to such nonsensical, 
fantastical dreaming reasons to answer this urgent ar- 
gument. So we may safely conclude, and with a 
christian confidence say, that if there is such a place 
as purgatory, it must be an empty place, or that it is 
impossible to find there any souls, or tliat the Roman 
catliolics take every year more souls out of it than can 
go into it ; all which, being against the evidence of na- 
tural reason and computation made, is a dream, fic- 
tion, or to say the truth, roguery, robbery, and cheat 
of the pope and priests. As for the pope (if the report 
in the public news is true) I must beg leave to except 
for awhile this-4)resent pope, who in his behaviour 
makes himself the exception of the rule. I say, for a 
while, for by several instances (as I shall speak to in 
the second part) many popes have had a good begin- 
ning, and a yevy bad end. God enlighten him with 
his holy spirit, that he may bring in all papist coun- 
tries to our reformation. And I pray God Almighty, 
from the bottom of my heart, to give all the Romans 
such a light as his infinite goodness has been pleased 
to grant me, and tliat all my country people, and all 
those that call themselves Roman catholics, would 
make the same nsp of that light that I have endeavour- 
ed to make use of myself, to know the corruptions of 
their church, and to renounce them with as firm and 
hearty resolution, as I have done myself j and I pray 
God, who must be my judge, to continue in me tlie 
same light, and his grace, that 1 may live and die in 

Q 



182 A MASTER-KEY 

the religion I have emhraced, and to give me tlie de- 
sired comfort of my hearty whicli is to see many of my 
beloved country people come and enjoy the quietness of 
mind and conscience I do enjoy, as to this point of re- 
ligion and way of salvation : and I wish I could pre- 
vail with them to read the bull, which they believe, is 
the sancto sanctorum^ the passport to heaven, and I am 
sure they would find the contrary, and see that it is 
only a dream, a dose of opium to lull them asleep, and 
keep them always ignorant : that God Almighty may 
grant to them and me too all these things, is my con- 
stant prayer to him. 



PART III. 

J practical account of their masses, privileged altars^ 
transtibstaniiation and purgatory. I comprise all the 
Jour heads in one chapter, because there is a near re- 
lation between them all, though I shall speak of them 
separately, and as distinct articles. 

ARTICLE I. 

Of their masses. 

The mass for priests and friars is better, and has 
greater power and virtue than the loadstone, for this 
only draws steel, but that allures and gets to them sil- 
ver^ gold, precious stones, and all sorts of fruits of t!ie 
earth ; therefore it is proper to give a description of 
every thing the priests make use of to render the mass 
the most magnificent aud respectful thing in the world, 
in the eyes of the people. 



TO POPERY. ISs 

The priest every morning, after lie has examined 
his conscience, and confessed his sins (which they call 
reconciliation) goes to the vestry and washes his hands^ 
afterwards he kneels down hefore an image of a cru- 
cifix, which is placed on the drawers, where the orna- 
ments are kept, and says several prayers and psalms^ 
written in a book, called preparatorium. When he 
.has done, he gets up, and goes to dress himself, all the 
ornaments being ready upon the drawers, which are 
like the table of an altar ; then he takes the ambito, 
which is like a holland iiandkerchief, and kissing the 
middle of it, puts it round his neck, and says a short 
prayer. After he takes the aha, which is a long sur- 
plice with narrow sleeves, laced round about with fine 
lace, and says another prayer while he puts it on. 
Tlic clerk is always beliind, to help hini. Then he 
takes the cingulum, i. e. the girdle, and says a prayer^ 
after he takes the stola, which is a long list of silk, 
witli a cross in the middle, and two crosses at the ends 
of it, and says another prayer while he puts it on his 
neck, and crosses it before his breast, and tieth it with 
the ends of the girdle. After he takes the manipulum, 
L e. a short list of the same silk, vdth as many crosses 
on it, and tieth it on the left arm, saying a prayer. 
Then he takes the casulla, i. e. a sort of dress made of 
three yards of a silk stuff, a yard wide behind, and 
something narrower before, with a hole in the middle 
to put his head through it. After he is thus dressed, 
he goes to the corner of the table, and taking the cha- 
lice, cleans it with a little holland towel, with which 
the chalice's mouth is covered, after he puts a 



ISi. A MASTER-KEY 

large host on the patena, i. e. a small silrer plate gilt;, 
whicli serves to cover the chalice^ and puts on the host 
a neat piece of fine holland laced all over. Then he 
covers all with a piece of silk, three quarters of a yard 
square. After, he examines the coi*porales, i. e. two 
pieces of fine, well starched holland, with lace round 
about; the first is three quarters of a yard square, 
and the second half a yard, and folding them both, puts 
tliem in a flat cover, which he puts on tlic chalice, and 
taking a squared cap, if he is a secular priest, puts it 
on liis head, and having the chalice in l^is hands, makes 
a great bow to the crucifix, says a prayer, and goes 
out of the vestry to the altar, where he designs to say 
mass. This is as to the private mass. ?vow before 
I proceed to tlje great mass, wbich is always sung, it is 
fit to talk of the riches of their ornaments. 

As in the Romish church arc several festivals, viz. 
those of our Saviour Christ, Christmas, Circumcision^ 
Epiphany, Easter, x\scension, Pei^tecost, and Trans- 
figuration : those of tlie holy cross ; those of the bless- 
ed virgin Mary; those of the angels, apostles, martyrs, 
confessors, virgins, &c. So there are several sorts of 
ornaments and of divers colours, white for all the fes- 
tivals of Jesus Christ, except pentecost, in w inch the 
ornaments are red ; white also, for the festivals of the 
virgin Mary, confessors, and virgins ; red for Mar- 
tyrs ; violet colour for Advent and Lent ; and black 
for the masses of the dead. 

The same rule is observed in the fronts of the altar^s 
table, or ara aliaris^ which arc always adorned with 
hangings of the colour of the day's festivals. In eve- 



TO POPERY. 185 

ry parish chiircli and convent tlicrc are many orna- 
ments of each of the said colours, all of the richest silks 
with silver, gold and embroidery. There are many 
long cloaks or palia of all sorts of colours^ several do- 
zens of alvas, or surplices of the finest holland, with 
the finest laces round about them, chalice of silver, the 
inside of the cup gilt, many of gold, and many of gold 
set with diamonds and precious stones. There is one 
in tlie cathedral of St. Salvator, iu the city of Zara- 
gossa, which weighs five pounds of .gold, set all over 
with diamonds^ and is valued at 15000 crow^is, and 
this is not considered an extraordinary one. 

A possenet of silver gilt all over, to keep the holy 
water and hysop, with a silver iiandlo, t ) he used in 
holy days at church, is an indispensable thing almost 
in every churchy iis also two big caiidlesticks lour fcet 
high, for the two accolits or assistrjits to the gro^.t 
mass. In several churches there arc two ciriales, i. e« 
big candlesticks, five feet high all of silver, which 
weigh 200 pounds in some churches, and another big- 
ger than these for t!ic blessed candle on candlemas day. 
Six other middle silver candlesticks, which serve on 
the ara or altar's tahle, silver (and in many church- 
es,) gold bottles and plate to keep tlie water and wine 
that is. used in the mass, a small silver bell for the same 
luse, an incensary, and stand for the missal or mass- 
book, and another stand of silver two feet high, for the 
deacon and subdeacon to read on it the epistle and 
gospel. 

There is also in the great altar the custodia, i. e. a 

figure of a sun and beams made of gold, and many of 

q 2, 



186 A MASTER-KEY 

them set with precious stones to keep in the centre of 
itthe great consecrated host in the middle of two crys- 
tals: The foot of the custodia is made of the same me- 
tal ; it is kept in a gilt tahernacle, and shewn to the 
people upon several occasions, as I will mention in 
another place. 

Besides this rich custodia, there is a hig silver or 
gold cnp kept in the same or another tahernacle, on 
another altar, which is to keep the small consecrated 
wafers for the communicants. Before those taherna- 
cks a Silver lamp is hurning night and day. The al- 
tars arc adorned on scvei*ftl festivals witli the silver 
bodies of several saints, some as big as a man, some 
half bodies with crowns or mitres set with precious 
stones, 

I could name several churches and convents, where 
I saw many rarities and abundance of rich ornaments^ 
but this being a thing generally known by the private 
accounts of many travellers, I shall only give a descrip- 
tion of the rarities and riches of the church of the lady 
del Pilar, and tiiat of St. Salvator, in the city of Zara- 
gossa; because I never met with any book which men- 
tioned them, and tlie reason (as I believe) is, because 
foreigners do not travel much in Spain, for want of 
good conveniences on the roads, and for the dismal 
journey in whicii they cannot see an house, sometimes 
in twenty or thirty iniles* 

In the cathedral church of St. Salvator tliere is for- 
ty-five prebendaries, besides the dean, arciuleacon, 
chanter, and sixty-six beuLdciates, six priests and a 
master, and twelve boys for tlie music, and sixty 



TO POPERYo ±sr 

clerks, under clerks, anchsextons. The church con 
tains thirty chapels, large and small, and the great al- 
tar thirty feet high and ten broad, all of marble stone, 
with many bodies of saints of the same, and in the mid- 
dle of it the transfiguration of our Saviour in the mount 
Tabor, with the apostles all represented in marble fi- 
gures. The front of the table of the altar is made of 
solid silver, the frame gilt and adorned with pi'ecious 
stones. In the treasure of the church they keep six- 
teen bodies of saints of pure silver, among wliich that 
of St. Peter Argues (who was a prebendary in the 
same church, and was murdered by the Sarracens) is 
adorned with rich stones of a great value. Besides 
these they keep twelve half silver bodies of other saints, 
and many relicks set with gold and diamonds. Forty- 
eight silver candlesticks for the table of the altar, two 
large ones, and the third for the blessed candle, three 
hundred pound weight each : thirty-six small silver 
candlesticks ; and six made of solid gold, for the great 
festivals. Four possenets of silver, two of solid gold, 
with the handles of hysops, of the same. Two big 
crosses, one of silver, the other of gold, ten feet high, 
to carry bef )re the processions. Ten thousand ounces 
of silv*^r in plate, part of it gilt, to adorn the two cor- 
ners of the altar on great festivals, and when the arcli-- 
bishop officipttes and says the great mass. Three and 
tliirty silver lamps, of which the smallest is an hun- 
dred and fifty pounds weiglit, and the largest, which is 
before the great altar, gilt all over, is six hundred and 
thirty pounds weiglit. Abundance of rich ornaments 
for priests, of inexpressible value. Eighty-four cha- 



188 A MxiSTER-KEY 

1 ices, twenty of pure gold, and sixty-four of silver giFt 
on the inside of the cup ; and the rich chalice wliich 
only the archbishop makes use of in his pontifical 
dress. 

All these things are but trifles in comparison with 
the great custodia they make use of to carry the great 
Host through the streets on the festival of Corpus 
Christi; tliis was a present made to the catliedral by 
tlie archbishop of Seville, wlio had been prebendary of 
that church before. Tlie circumference of the sun and 
beams is as big as the wlieel of a coach : at the end of 
each beam there is a star. The centre of the sun, 
where the great Host is placed between two crystals, set 
with large diamonds ; the beams are all of solid gold, 
set with several precious stones, and in the middle of 
each star, a rich emerald set in gold. Tlic crystal with 
tlK great Host is fixed in the moutli of the rich chalice, 
and the chalice on a pedestal of silver, all gilt over, 
which is three feet high. The whole custodia is five 
hundred pound weight: and tins is placed on a gilt 
base which is carried by twelve priests, as I shall tell 
you in anotlier article. Several goldsmiths have en- 
deavoured to value this piece, but nobody could act a 
certain sum on it. One said tliat a million of pistoles 
was too little. And liow the archbishop could gather 
together so many precious stones, every body was sur- 
prised at, till we heard that a brother oF his grace died 
in Peru, and left him great sums of money, and a vast 
quantity of diamonds and precious stones. 

I come now to speak of the treasure and rarities of 
the Ladv del Tilar. In the church of this lady is the 



10 POPERY. 189 

same number of prebendaries and beneficiates, musi- 
cians, clerks and sextons, as in the cathedral church 
of St. Sal \ a tor, and as to the ornaments and silver 
plate, they are very much tlie same, except only that 
of the great custodia, wliich is not so rich. But as to 
the chapel of the blessed virgin, there is without com- 
parison more in it than in the cathedral. I shall treat 
of tlie image in another chapter. Now as to her riches, 
I will give you an account of it as far as I remember, 
for it is impossible for every thing to be kept in the 
memory of man. 

In the iiltle ciiapel, wliere tlie image is on a piilai", 
are four angels as big and tall as a man, with a large 
candlestick, each of them made of silver gilt. Tlie 
front of two altars is solid silver, with gilt frames, set 
with rich stones. Before tlie image there is a lamp, 
or, as they call it, a spider of crystal, in which twelve 
wax candles burn night and day : the several parts of 
tlie spider are set with gold and diamonds, which was 
a present made to the virgin by Don John of Austria, 
who also left her in his last will his own heart, which 
accordingly was brought to her, and is kept in a gold 
box set with large diamonds, and which hangs before 
the image. There is a thick grate round about the lit- 
tle chapel of solid silver : next to this is another cha- 
pel to say mass in before the image ; and the altar- 
piece of it is all made of silver from the top to the table 
of the altar, which is of jasper stone, and the front of 
silver, with the frame gilt, set with precious stones. 
The rich crown of the virgin is twenty -five pounds 
weighty set all over with large diamonds, so that nobo^ 



190 A MASTER-KEY 

dy can see any gold in it, and every body thinks it is 
all made of diamonds. Besides this rich one, she has 
six crowns more of pure gold set with rich diamonds 
and emeralds, the smallest of which is worth half a 
million. 

The roses of diamonds and other precious stones 
she has to adorn her mantle are innumerable; for 
though she is drest every day in the colour of the 
church's festival, and never useth the same mantle 
twice, W'hich is of the best stuff embroidered with gold, 
she has new roses of precious stones every day for 
three years together, she has three hundred and sixty- 
five necklaces of pearls and diamonds, and six chains 
of gold set with diamonds, whicJi are put on her man- 
tle on the great festivals of Christ. 

In the room of her treasure are innumerable heads, 
arms, legs, eyes and hands made of gold and silver, 
presented to her by the people who have been cured, 
as they believe, by miracle, through the virgin's divine 
power and intercessions. In this second chapel are 
one hundred and ninety-five silver lamps in three lines 
one over the other: the lamps of the lowest rank are 
larger than those of the second, and these larger than 
those of the third. Tlie five lamps facing the image 
are about five hundred pounds weight each, the sixty 
of the same line four hundred pounds weight. Those 
of the second line are two hundred ponnds weiglit, and 
those of the third line one hundred. There is the image 
of the virgin in the treasure made in the shape of a 
woman five feet high, all of pure silver, set with pre- 
cious stones, and a crown of gold set with diamonds, 



TO POPERY. 191 

and this image is to be carried in a public procession 
the days appointed. I will speak of the miraculous 
image in the following chapter. 

I remember that when the right honourable lord 
Stanhope, then general of the English forces, was in 
Zaragossa, after the battle, he went to seethe treasure 
of the Lady of Pilar, which was shewn to him, and I 
heard him say these words : ^* If all the kings of Eu- 
rope should gather together all their treasure and pre- 
cious stones, they could not buy half of the riches of 
this treasury/' And by this expression of so wise and 
experienced a man, every body may judge of their 
value. 

After this short account of the ornaments to be used 
at mass, and the incomparable treasures of the Romish 
church, I proceed to a description of the great or high 
masses, their ceremonies, and of all the motions and 
gestures the priests make in the celebration of a mass. 

Besides the priest, there must be a deacon, subdea- 
con, two acoliti, i. e. two to carry the big candlesticks 
before^the priest, and one to carry the incensary. The 
iiicenser helps the priest when he dresseth himself in 
the vestry, and the two acoliti help the deacon and 
subdeacon. When all three are drest, the incenser 
and two acoliti in their surplices, and large collars 
round about their necks, made of the same stuiF as that 
of the priest's casulla, and the deacon and subdeacon 's 
animaticas, i. e. a sort of casulla with open sleeves,— 
the incenser puts fire in the incensary, and the acoliti 
takes the candlesticks with the wax candles lighted, 
and the subdeacon takes the chalice and corporals, and 



±92 A MASTER-KEY 

making a bow to the crucifix in the vestry, they go 
out into the church to the great altar. There is com- 
monly three steps to go up to the altar, and the prieet 
and five assistants kneel down at the first step, then 
leaving the incense and acoliti to stay there, the priest, 
deacon and subdeacon go up to the altar's table, and 
all kneel down there again. The subdeacon leaveth 
the chalice on a little table next to the table of the al- 
tar at the right hand, and then they turn back again 
to the highest step, and kneeling down again, the priest, 
deacon and subdeacon get up, leaving the incenser and 
acoliti on their knees, and begin the mass by a psalm, 
and after it the priest says the general confession 
of sins, to which the deacon and subdeacon answer, 
Mesereator tnu ^t. Tlien they say the general confes- 
sion themselves, and after it the priest absolveth them, 
and saying another psalm, they go up again to the table 
of the altar, which the priest kisseth, and he andthe 
two assistants kneel down, and rise again. Then the 
incenser brings the incensary and incense, and the 
priest puts in three spoonfuls of it, and takin^he 
incensary from the deacon's hands, he incenses three 
times tlie tabernacle of the Eucharistia, and goes twice 
to each side of it, he kneels down then, and the dea- 
con takes up the hem of the priest's casulla, and so 
goes from the middle of the altar to the right corner, 
incensing the table and returning from the corner to 
the middle, then kneels down and gets up, and goes 
to t!ie left corner, and from the left goes again to the 
right, and giving the incensary to tlie deacon, he in- 
censes three times the priest, and gives the incensary 



TO POPEllY. 19^ 

to the incenser, and this incenses twice the deacon. 
The assistants always follow the priest, making the 
3ame motions that he doth. 

The incenser has the missal or mass l^ook ready on 
the table of the altar at the right corner, and so the 
priest begins the psalm of the mass : all this while the 
musicians are singing the beginning of the mass till 
kyrie eleison; and when they have finished, the priest 
sings these three words : Gloria in elcelsis Deo. And 
the musicians sing the rest. While they are singing, 
the priest, deacon and subdeacon, making a bow to the 
tabernacle, go to sit on three rich chairs at the right 
hand of the ara or altar's table ; and as soon as tlie 
music has ended the gloria, they go to the middle of 
the table, kneel down, and get up, and the priest kiss* 
ing the table turns to the people, opening his arms, 
and says, in Latin, *< The Lord be with you,'^ to which 
and all other expressions the music and the people an- 
swer; then turns again his face to the altar, kneels 
down, gets up, and the assistants doing the same, the 
pTOst goes to the right corner, and says the collect for 
the day, and two, or sometimes five or six prayers in 
commemoration of the saints; and last of all, a prayer 
for the pope, king and bishop of the diocese, against 
hereticks, infidels and enemies of their religion, or the 
holy catholic faith. 

Then the subdeacoii, taking the book of the epistles 
and gospels, goes down to the lowest step, and sings 
the epistle, which ended, he goes up to the priest, kiss* 
eth hi« liand, leaves the book of the gospels on the lit- 
tle table, takes the missal or mass-book, and carrieth 

R 



194. A MASTER-KEY 

it to the left cofner. Then the priest goes to the mid- 
dle, kneels down, kisseth the altar, says a prayer, and 
goes to say the gospel, while the music is singing a 
psalm, which they call tractiis gradualis. The gospel 
ended, the priest goes again to the middle, kneels down, 
riseth and kisseth the table, and turns half to the al- 
tar and half to the people, and the deacon, giving himli 
the incense-box, he puts in three spoonsfid of it, and 
blesses the incense : The incenser takes it from tJie 
deacon, who taking the book of the gospel,^ kneels 
down before the priest and asketh his blessing : the 
priest giveth the blessing, and the deacon kisses his 
hand, and then he goes to the left corner and sings 
the gospel, viz. the left corner, as to the people of the 
church, but as to the altar, it is the right. While the 
deacon sings the gospel, the priest goes to the opposite 
corner, and there stands till the gospel is ended : then 
the deacon carrieth to him the book open, and the 
priest kissing it, goes to the middle of the table and 
kneeling, rising, kissing the table, the assistants^o- 
ing the same, he turns liis face to the people, opeWth 
his arms, and says again, The Lord be with you. 
Then he turns again before the altar, and says, Let 
%s pray* The music begins the offertory, when there 
T^ no creed to be sung, for there is none in all their 
festivals. 

While the musicians sing the offertory, the deacon 
prepares the chalice, i. e. puts the wine in it, and after 
him, the subdeacon pours in three drops of water, and 
cleaning nicely the mouth of the cup, the deacon gives 
it to the priest, who takes it in his hands, and offering 



TO POPERY- 195 

it to the eternal, sets it on the clean corporalcs, and 
covers it with a small piece of fine holland : then he 
says a prayer, and putting incense in the incensary, 
as before, kneels, and then rising, incenses the table, 
as is said, which done, the snbdeacon poureth water on 
the priest's fore-fingers, which he washeth and wipeth 
with a clean towel, and after returns to the middle of 
the table, and after some prayers, he begins to sing the 
preface, which ended, he says some other prayers. 
Before the consecration, he joinetU his two hands, and 
puts them before his face, sliuts his eyes, and exam- 
ines his conscience for two or three minutes; then op- 
ening his eyes and arms, says a prayer, and begins the 
consecration. At this time every body is silent, to hear 
the w'ords^ and when the priest comes to pronounce 
them, he says, with a loud voice, in Latin, Hoc est en- 
im corpus meum. Then he leaves tiie consecrated host 
on the ara, kneels dovvn, aiui getting up, takes again 
the host with Ids two thumbs, and two foremost fingers, 
and lifts it up, as high as he can, that every body may 
see it, and leaving it again on the same ara, kneels 
down, and then rising up, takes the chalice, and after 
he has consecrated the wine,, leaves it on the ara, and 
making the same motions and bows, he lifts it up as he 
did the liost, aad placing it on the ara, covereth it, 
and with the same gestures, he says a prayer in re- 
membrance of all the saints, all parents, relations, 
friends, and of all the souls in purgatory, but especi* 
ally of tiiat soul for whom the sacrifice of tliat mass is 
offered to^ God by Jesus Christ himself, for as Chry- 




196 amasteh-key 

sostom and Amb.^ say, the priest, not only represent- 
ing Christ, but in the act of celebrating and consecrat- 
ing is the very same Christ himself. Thus it is in 
the catechism published by decree of the council of 
Trent-t 

Between this and the sumption, or tlie taking of tlie 
host, and drinking of the cup, the priest says some 
prayers, and sings our Father, in Latin, kneeling down 
several times. When he comes to the communion, he 
breaks the host by the middle, leaves one part on the 
table, and break eth off the other half, a little piece, and 
puts it into the cup; this done, he eateth the two half 
hosts, and drinketh the wine, and for fear that any 
small fragments should remain in the cup, the deacon 
puts in more wine, and the priest drinks it up, and go- 
ing to the corner with the chalice, the subdeacon pour- 
eth water upon the priest's two thumbs and foremost 
fingers, and being well washed, goes to the middle of 
the table and drinks up the water. Then the deacon 
takes the cup and wipes it, and putting on every thing, 
as when tliey came to the altar, gives it to the subdea- 
con, wlio leaves it on the little table near the altar.— 
After this is done, the priest, kneeling and getting up, 

* Horn. 2. in 2d. Timoth. 6c Horn, de prod. Judx Amb. lib. 
4 de sacram. C. 4. 

j- Sed unus etiam, atque idem Sacerdos est Christus Do- 
minus : nam Ministri qui sacrificium faciunt, non suam sed 
Christi personam accipiimt, cum ejus corpus 8c sanguinem 
conficiunt, id quod 8c ipsius consecrationis verbis ostenditur, 
sacerdos inquit : hoc est corpus meum, personem videlicet 
Christi Domini gerens, panis 8c vidi substantiam in verara. 
ejus corporis Sc sanguinis substantiam convertit. 



TO POPERY. 197 

turning to tlic people and opening his arms, says, The 
Lord be with you, and two or more jn'ayers; and last 
of all, the gospel of St. John, with which he endetli 
tlie mass; so in the same order they went out of the 
vestry, they return into it again, saying a prayer for 
the souls in purgatory. After the priest is undressed, 
the incenser and acoliti kneel down before him, and 
kiss his right hand : then they undress themselves, anfl^ 
the priest goes to the humiliatory to give God thanks 
for all his benefits. 

The same ceremonies, motions and gestures the 
priest makes in a private mass, but not so many in a 
mass for the dead. Tljey have proper masses for the 
lioly Trinity, for Christ, the virgin Mary, angels, 
apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins, and for the dead, 
the ornaments for this last arc always black. This is 
a true description of the ceremonies of the mass : now 
let us give an account of the means the jmests make 
use of for the promoting of this sacrifice, and increas- 
iiig their profit. 

The custon], or rule for public masses, which are 
always sung, is this; the person that goes to the clerk 
and asks a mass to be sung, carrieth at least six wax 
candles \vhich burn on the altar^s table, while the mass 
lasts, and a good offering for the prievSt, and besides 
tliat, must give the charity, which is a crown, and the 
same for a mass sung for the dead ; but if a person 
has a mind to have a mass sung, such a day for ever, 
he must give, or settle upon the chapter or community, 
a pistole every year, and these are called settled mas- 
ses, and there are of these mass^ in every parish, 

Ti 2 



las A MASTER-KEY 

cliiircli and convent more than the priests and friars 
can say in a year; for ever since the comedy of the 
mass began to be acted on the stage of the church, the 
bigots of it successively have settled masses every year; 
the priests and friars then cannot discharge their con- 
science^ while they keep the people ignorant of the 
truth of the matter. 

Tims they blind the people: suppose to be in a con- 
vent 100 friars and priests, and that tliere are in that 
convent 200 privat<3 and public masses settled every 
day^ the cliarity of 100 is a manifest fraud and robbe- 
)*y, for tliey i^eceive it, and cannot say the masses. And 
nevertheless tlicy acce{)t every day new foundations and 
settlements of massrs; for if the j>eop!e ask the dean 
or prior, whether there is a vacancy for a mass, they 
will never answer no; and this way they increase the 
yearly rents continually. 

This is to be understood of the chapter, or commu- 
Tiity, and I must say that the chaptei^, and parish 
churches are not so hard upon the people, as the con- 
Yents of friars are, thougli they are not so rich, as the 
eoimaunities : the reason is, because a parish priest 
Las, during his life, iiis tythes and book-money. But 
a prior of a convent commands that community only 
three years, therefore, while the office lasts, they en- 
deavour to make money of every thing. 1 knew sev- 
eral priors very rich after their priorship; and how did 
they 2:?i riches, but by blinding and cheating the peo- 
ple, exaiti)!g money for masses which never were said 
nor suii^-, ni)V ever will be ? 



TO POPERY. 199 

As to tlie private priests and friars, and their cheat- 
inj^ ways, there is sa much to be said on them that I 
cannot, in so small a book as this is, give a full account 
of all ; so I shall only tell the most usual methods they 
have to heap up riches by gathering thousands of 
masses every year. 

Observe first of all, that if a priest is parish minis- 
ter, or vicar, he has every day of the year certain fa- 
milies, for whose souls, or fi)r the souls of their an- 
cestors, he is to celebrate and ofRn* the sacrifice of the 
mass. And if he is a friar, he has but one mass every 
week left to him, for six days he is obliged to say mass 
for the community: so, by this rule, a parish minister 
cannot in conscience receive any money for masses, 
w hen he knoweth that he cannot say more masses, 
tiian those settled for evei^y day of the year; and by 
the same rule, a friar cannot in conscience receive 
more money than for fifty-two masses every year, and 
consequently those that receive more are deceivers of 
the poor ignorant p^ple, robbers of their money, and 
coniinit sacrilege in so doing. 

And that they take more than they in justice caiv 
shall appear in several instances. First, I never saw, 
eitlier secular or regular priest refuse the charity for 
a mass, when a christian soul did ask them to say it^ 
and I knew hundreds of priests mighty offici5us in ask- 
ing masses from all sorts of people. Secondly, in all 
families whatsoever, if any one is dangerously sick, 
there are continually friars and priests waiting till the 
person dieth, and troubling the chief of the family with 
petitions for masses for the soul of the dead; and if he 



20O A'MASTEll-KEY 

is rich, the custom is, to distribute anioiig alt the con- 
vents and parishes 1000 or more masses to be said the 
day of the burial : when the marquis of St. Martin di* 
ed, his lady distributed IOO5OOO masses, for which she 
paid the very same day 5,000 pounds sterling, besides 
1,000 masses, which she settled upon all the convents 
and parish churches, to be said every year for ever, 
which amounts to 1,000 pistoles a year for ever. 

Thirdly. The friars most commonly are rich, and 
have nothing of their own, as tliey say ; some are as- 
sisted by their parents, but these are very few : they 
give two-thirds of whatever they get to the commu- 
nity! and in some strict orders tlie friars ouglitto give 
all to the convent; nevertheless, they are never with- 
out money in their pockets, for all sorts of diversions ; 
and it is a general observation, that a friar at cards is 
a resolute man ; for as lie doth not work to get money^, 
or is sure of getting more if he loseth^ he doth not care 
to put all on one card ; therefore gentlemen do not 
venture to play with them^ so they are obliged to play 
with one another. 

I saw several friars, who had nothing in the world 
hut the allowance of their community, and the charity 
of 5^2 masses a year, to venture on one card 50 pis- 
toles: another to lose !;i00 pistoles in half an hour's 
time, and the next day have money enough to jday. 
And this is a thing so well known, that many of our 
officers tliat have been in Spain, can testify the truth 
of it as eye-witnesses. 

Now, as to the method they have to pick up money 
for so many masses, they do not tell it | but as I never 



To POPERY. 201 

was bouftd not to discover it, and the discovery of it, 
I hope, will be very useful to the Roman catholics, 
though disadvantageous to priests and friars, I think 
myself obliged in conscience, to reveal this never re- 
vealed secret, for it is for the public good, not only of 
protestants, who by this shall know thoroaglily the 
cheats of the Romish priests, but of the Roman cath- 
olics too, who bestow their money for nothing to a 
people that make use of it to ruin their souls and bo- 
dies. 

The thing is this, that the friars are said to liave a 
privilege from the pope (I never saw such a privilege 
myself, thougli I used all my endeavours to searcli and 
find it out) of a centenmia missa, i. e. a brief, wherein 
the pope grants them the privilege of saying one mass 
for an hundred; which privilege is divulged among 
priests and friars, who keep it in secret among them- 
selves; so that, as they say, one mass is equivalent to 
an hundred. I did not question when I was in that 
communion, that the pope could do that and more, but 
I was suspicious of the truth of such a grant. Now 
observe, that by this brief, every friar, having for him- 
self 52 masses free every year, and one mass being as 
good as an hundred, he may get the charity of 5,200 
masses, and the least charity for every mass being two 
reals of plate, i. e. fourteen pence of our money, he 
may get near 300 pounds a year. 

The secular priests, by this hriet o£ centenaria missal 
have more masses than tlie private friars ; for though 
they have 365 settled masses to say in a year, they 
have, and may get the charity of 99 masses every day, 



^0^ A MASTER-KEY 

which comes to three millions, six thousand, one hun- 
dred and thirty -five masses every year. In the con- 
vents that have 120 friars, and some 400, the prior 
having six masses every week from each of his friars, 
by the same rule, may have millions of millions of 
masses. 

Hear now, how they amuse the credulous people. 
If a gentleman or gentlewoman, or any other person 
goes to cburcl), and desires one mass to be said for 
such or such a soiiU and to !)e present at it, there is 
always a friar ready, from six in the morning till one, 
to say mass. He takes the charity for it, and he goes 
to say it ; wiiich he says tor that soul as I say it now : 
for till such time as he gets the charity of an hundred 
masses, which is above five pounds sterling, he will 
not say his •wn mass, or the mass for him. And so 
the rest of the friars do, and many priests too : the 
person that has given the cliarity and has heard the 
mass, goes home fully satisfied that the mass has been 
said for him, or to his intention. 

As to the communities: if somebody dieth, and the 
executors of the testament go to a father prior, and 
beg of him to say 1,000 masses, he gives them a re-, 
ceipt, whereby the masses are said already ; for he 
makes them believe that he has more masses said al- 
ready by his friars to his own intention, and that out 
of the number he applies 1,000 for the soul of the dead 
person; so the executors upon his word, take the re- 
ceipt of the masses which they want to sliew to the 
vicar-general, who is to visit the testament, and see 
every spiritual thing ordered in it accomplished ac- 
cordingly.^ 



TO POPERY- ^OS 

' This custom of asking money for masses, is not on- 
ly among the friars, but among the beatas, nuns, and 
whores too ; for a beata, with an affected air of sanc- 
tity, goes up and down to visit the sick, and asks be- 
fore-hand many masses from the heads of families, al- 
leging that by her prayers and so many masses, the 
sick may be recovered, and restored to his former 
health ^ but these, if they get money for masses, they 
give it to their spiritual confessors, who say them as 
the beata ordereth. And according to tlieir custom 
and belief, there is no harm at all in so doing. The 
evil is in the nuns, who get every where abundance of 
masses, on pretence they have priests and friars of 
their relations, who want the charity of masses. And 
what do they with the money? Every nun having a 
devoto, or gallant to serve her, desireth him to say so 
many masses for her, and to give her a receipt ; he 
promises to do it, but he never says the masses, though 
he gives a receipt : so the nun keeps the money, the 
fiiar is paid by her in an unlawful way, the people 
are cheated, and the souls in purgatory (if there is 
such a place) remain there for ever, for want of re- 
lief^ 

But the worst of all is^ that a public, scandalous wo- 
man will gather together a number of masses, on pre- 
tence that she has a cousin in such a convent, who 
wants masses, i. e. the charity for them. And what 
use do they make of them? This is an abomination to 
the Lord. They have many friars who visit them un- 
law'fully, and pay for it in masses ; so the woman keeps 
the money in payment for her ow n and their sins, gets 



204 A MASTERKEY 

a receipt from the friars, and these never say the mas- 
ses; for how can we believe that such men can offer 
the holy sacrifice (as they call the mass) for such aia 
use ? And if they do it, which is, in all human proba- 
bility, impossible, who would not be surprised at these 
proceedings? 

There is another custom in the church of Rome^ 
which brings a great deal of profit to the pi'iests and 
friars, viz. tlie great masses of brotherhoods or fra- 
ternities. In every parish church, and especially in 
every convent of friars and nuns, there are a number 
of these fraternities, i. e. corporations of tradesmen : 
and every corporation has a saint for their adA^ocate 
or patron, viz. the corporation of shoe-makers has for 
advocates St. Crispin and Crispinia; the butchers, St. 
Bartholomew, &c. and so of the rest. There is a prior 
of the corporation, who celebrates the day of their ad- 
vocate with a solemn mass, music, candles, and after 
all, an entertainment for the members of the fraterni- 
ty, and all the friars of the community. To this the 
corporation gives eight dozen of white wax candles to 
illuminate the altaj* of their patron, when the solemn 
mass is sung, and whatever remains of the candles goes 
to the convent. The prior payeth to the community 
20 crowns for the solemn mass, and 10 crowns to the 
musicians. The day following the corporation gives 
three dozen of yellow candles, and celebrates an anni- 
versary, and have many masses sung for the relief of 
their brethrens' souls in purgatory ; for every mass 
they pay a crown : and besides all these, tlie corpora- 
tion has a mass settled every Friday, v/hich is to be 



TO POPERY. 206 

sung for the relief of the brethren's souls, for which, 
and candles, the convent receives six crowns every 
Friday. There is not one church nor convent without 
two or three of these corporations every week ; for 
there are saints enough in their church for it ; and by 
these advocates of the friars, rather than of the mem- 
bers of the corporation, every body may form a right 
judgment of the riches the priests and friars, get by 
these means. 

One tiling I cannot pass by, tliough it has no rela« 
tion with the main subject of the mass ; and this is, 
that after the solemn mass is finished, the prior of the 
corporation, with his brethren, and the prior of the 
convent, with his friars, go all together to the refecto- 
ry, or common-hall, to dinner. There they make rare 
demonstrations of joy, in honor of the advocate of that 
corporation. The prior of the convent makes a short 
speech before dinner, recommending to them to eat and 
drink heartily, for after they have paid all the honor 
and reverence to their advocate that is due, they ought 
to eat, drink and be merry: so they drink till they are 
happy, tliough not drunk. 

I heard a pleasant story, reported in town, from a 
faithful person, who assured me he saw a friar come 
out of tlie refectory at S at night, and as he came out 
of the convent's gate, the moon shining that night, and 
the shadow of the house being iu the middle of the 
street, the merry friar thinking that the light of the 
moon, in the other half part of the street was water, 
look off his shoes and stockings, and so did walk till 
he reached the shadow ; and being asked by my friend 



206 A MASTER-KEY 

the meaning of such extravagant folly, the friar cried 
out, A miracle ! A miracle ! The gentleman thought 
that the friar was mad; but he cried the more, A mi- 
racle, a miracle. Where is the miracle ? (the people 
that came to the windows asked him :) I came this mi- 
nute through this river, said he, and I did not wet the 
soles of my feet j and then he desired the neighbours 
to come and be witnesses of the miracle. In such a 
condition the honor of the advocate of that day put the 
reverend friars; and this and the like effects such fes- 
tivals occasion, both in the members of the convents 
and corporation. 

Now I come to the means and persuasions, the fri- 
ars make use of for the extolling, and praising this in- 
estimable sacrifice of the mass, and the great ignorance 
of the people in believing them. First of all, as the 
people know the debaucheries and lewd lives of many 
friars and priests, sometimes they are loth to desire a 
sinful friar to say mass for them, thinking that his 
mass cannot be so acceptable to God Almighty, as that 
which is said by a priest of good morals : so far the 
people are illuminated by nature, but to this, priests and 
friars make them believe, that though a priest be the 
greatest sinner in the world, the sacrifice is of the same 
efficacy with God, since it is the sacrifice made by 
Christ on the cross for all sinners ; and it was so de- 
clared by the pope, and the council of Trent. 

Put it together with what the same council declares, 
that the priest doth not only represent Christ when he 
offereth the sacrifice, but that he is the very person 
of Christ at that time, and that therefore David calls 



TO POPERY. 207 

them Clirists, by these words ; JS^olite iangere Christos 
meos. O execrable thing ! If the priest is the very 
Christ in the celebration of the mass, how can he at 
the same time be a sinner? It bein^ certain that Christ 
knew no sin : and if that Christ-priest, offering the sa- 
crifice, is in any actual mortal sin, how can the sacri- 
fice of the mass, which is, as to them, the same sacri- 
fice Christ did offer to his eternal Father on the cross^ 
be efficacious to the expiation of the sins of all people? 
For, in the first place, that sacrifice offered by a Christ- 
priest, in an actual mortal sin, cannot be an expiation 
of the sin, by which the priest is spiritiially dead. Se- 
condly, if the Christ-priest is spiritually dead by that 
mortal sin, how can such a priest offer a lively spirit- 
ual sacrifice ? We must conclude then, that the priests, 
by such blasphemous expressions, not only deceive the 
p lople, but rob tliem of their money, and commit a high 
crime, but that the sacrifice he offers is really of no 
effect, or efficacy to the relief of the souls in the pre- 
tended p.urgatory. 

From what lias been said, it appears that the priests 
and friars make use of whatever means they can to 
cheat the people, to gratify their passions and increase 
tlieir treasure. For what cheat, fraud and roguery 
can be greater than this of the cenienaria missa witb 
which they suck up the money of poor and rich, with^ 
out performing what tliey promise? 

If the pope^s privilege for that hundred mass was 
really true, natural reason shews it was against the 
public good, and therefore ought not to be made use of: 
for by it, friars and priests will neve^r quench their 



^OS A MASTER-KEY 

thirst of money and ambition, till they draw to them 
the riches of Christendom, and by these means, they 
will wrong the supposed souls in purgatory, and ruin 
tlieir own too. Decency in the sacerdotal ornaments 
is agreeable to God our Lord, but vanity and jirofane- 
ness is an abomination before hinv Of what use can 
all tlie riches of their churches and ornaments be? It 
cannot be to make the sacrifice of the mass more effi- 
cacious ; the efficacy of it proceeds from Christ him- 
self, who made use of diffi^rent ornaments, from those 
the priests make use of. Nor is it to satisfy their own 
ambition ; for they could get more by saving of them; 
it is only to make mistress Mass the more admired, 
and gain the whole people to be her followers and cou- 
riers. 

O that the Roman laity would consider the weight 
of these christian observations ! and if they will not be- 
lieve them because they are mine, I heartily beg of 
them ail, to make pious and serious reflections upon 
them themselves, to examine the designs of the priests 
and friars, to mind their lives and conversations, to 
observe their works, to cast up accounts every year, 
and .^ec how much of their substance goes to the cler- 
gy and church for masses: sure 1 am, they will find 
out the ill and ambitious designs of their spiritual 
guides: they will experience their lives, most common- 
ly, not at all answerable to their characters, and sacer- 
dotal functions; and more, their own substances and 
estates diminished every year ; many of their families 
corrupted by the wantonness, their understandings 
blinded by the craft, their souls in the way to hell by 



TO POPERY. 209 

the wicked doctrines, and their bodies under sufferings 
by the needless impositions of priests and friars. 

They will find also, that the pomp and brightness 
of a solemn mass, is only vanity to amuse the eyes, and 
a cheat to rob the purse. That the ccnienaria missa 
never known to them before, is a trick and invention 
of priests and friars to delude and deceive them, and 
by that means impoverish and weaken them, and make 
themselves masters of all. 

They will come at last to consider and believe, that 
the Roman catholic congregations, ruled and govern- 
ed by priests and friars, do sin against the Lord; i. e. 
the spiritual heads do commit abomination before the 
Lord, and that they cannot prosper here nor hereafter, 
if they do not leave off their wicked ways. Pray read 
the fifth chapter, the seventeenth verse, and thefollow- 
ing, of Judith ; and you shall find tl>e ease and the 
truth of my last proposition. ^- While (saith he) these 
people sinned not before their God, they prospered, 
because the God that hateth iniquity was with them. 
But when they departed from the way tliat he appoint- 
ed them, they were destroyed.^' This was spf)ken of the 
Jews, but we may understand it of all nations, and es- 
pecially of the Romans, who are very much of a piece 
with the Jews of old, or no better. We see the priests 
departed from the way, that he appointed them. What 
can they expect but destruction, if they do not leave- 
off their wickedness, and turn unto the Lord ? And the 
worst is, that the innocent laity will suffer along with 
them, for God punisheth, as we see in flie Old Testa- 
ment, a whole nation for the sins of their rulers. Aini 

s 2 



210 A MASTER-KEY 

it is to be feared the same will happen to the Romish 
church, for the sins of their priests. God enlighten 
them* Amen. 

ARTICLE IL 

Of the privileged altar. 

A privileged altar is the altar to which (or to some 
image on it) the pope has granted a privilege of such 
a nature, that whosoev er says before it, or before the 
image, so many Faier JS^osters^ &c. and so many ^ve 
Marias^ with Qloria Patri^ &c. obtains remission of 
his sins, or rclievcth a soul out of purgatory : or who-' 
ever ordereth a mass to be said on the ara of such an 
altar, and before the image, has the privilege (as they 
believe) to take out of purgatoiy that soul for which 
the sacrifice of the mass is offered. 

The cardinals, patriarchs, primates, archbishoi>s 
and bishops, can grant to any image forty days of fulj 
and free indulgence, and fifteen quarantains of par- 
don, for those that visit the said image, and say such a 
prayer before it, as they have appointed at the grant- 
ing of such graces : so not only the images of the al- 
tars in the church, but several images in the cornei\s 
of the streets, and on the highway, have those graces 
granted to them by the bishop of the diocess : nay, the 
beads or rosary of the virgin Mary, of some consider- 
aWe persons, have the same grants : and what is yet 
Biore surprising, the picture of St. Anthony's pig, 
which is placed at the saint's ffeet, has the granting of 
fifteen quarantains of pardon of sins for those tii at ?i- 



TO POPERY. 21i 

sit and pray before him. What the people do on St, 
Martin's day, I shall tell in another chapter. 

I will not dispute now, whether the pope and bish- 
ops have authority to grant such privileges; but I on- 
ly say, that I do not believe sucli a dream : for the 
pope has usurped the supremacy and infallibility, and 
his ambition being so great, he never will dispossess 
himself of a thing by which he makes himself more 
supreme, infallible, and rich; by keeping all those 
graces in his own hands, he would oblige all the bi- 
gots to seek after him, pay him for them, and have him 
in more veneration than otherwise lie would be in* 

Tiiese privileges are a great furtherance to carry on 
the ecclesiastical interests, and to bring the people ta 
offer their prayers and money, and to be blinded and 
deceived by those papal inventions. But because I 
have already treated of these privileges, J proceed to 
the third article^. 

ARTICLE III. 

Of Transiibstantiatioii, or the Eucharist 

I shall say nothing touching the scholastical opi- 
nions of the Romish church about the sacrament of the 
eucharist, or the real presence of Jesus Christ in it; 
for these are well known by our learned and well in- 
structed laity : so I will confine myself wholly to their 
practices in the administration of this sacrament, and 
the worship paid to it by the priests and laity ; and 
what strange notions the^n'cacher-s put in the peoples' 
heads about it. 



212 A MASTER-KEY 

First, as to the administratiou of this sacrament, 
actual or habitual intention being necessary in a priest, 
to the validity and effii acy of tlie sacrament, open con- 
fession and repentance of his sins : he goes to conse- 
crate the bread and wine, and (as they say, believe, 
and make the people believe) witli five words they 
oblige Jesus Christ to descend from heaven to the host 
with his body, soul and divinity, and that so he re- 
mains there as high and almighty as he is in heaven ; 
which they endeavour to confirm with pretended mi- 
racles ; saying, that many priests of pure lives have 
seen a little boy, instead of a wafer, in the consecrated 
host, &c. 

In winter twice every month, and in summer every 
week, the priest is to consecrate one great host, and a 
quantity of small ones : which they do in the follow- 
ing manner. After tlie priest has consecrated the^ 
great and small,.besides the host which he is to receive 
himself, the priests of the parish, or friars of the con- 
vent, come in two lines, with wax candles lighted in 
4heir hands, and kneel down before the altar, and be- 
gin to sing an hymn and anthem to the sacrament of 
the altar, as it is called by them ; then the iwicst open- 
eth the tabernacle where the old great host is kept be- 
tween two crystals and takes out of the tabernacle the 
custodia, and a cup of small consecrated wafers, and 
puts them on the table of the altar | then he takef^ the 
old great host, eats it, and so he docs t!ie small ones | 
then he puts the new great consecrated host between 
tlie two crystals of the custodia, and the new small 
ones iiito tlie communion cupj because the small ones 



TO POPERY, 21S 

serve the common people. Then he incenses the great 
host on his knees, and having a neat wliffe towel 
round his neck, vvitli the ends of it he takes the custo- 
dia, and turns to tlie people and makes the figure of a 
cross before them, then turning to the altar, puts the 
custodia and the cup of the small wafers in the taber- 
nacle and locks the door, and the priests go away. 

The reason why the great host and tlie small ones 
are renewed twice a month in winter, and every week 
in summer, is, as they say, (mind this reason, for the 
same is against them) because in summer, by the ex- 
cessive heat, the hoM may be corrupted and putrified, 
and produce worms, which many times has happened 
to the great host, as I myself have seen. So to pre- 
vent this, they consecrate every week in summer time; 
but in winter, which is a more favourable time to pre- 
serve the host from corruption, only once in a fort- 
night. 

If Christ is then in the host with his body, soul and 
divinity, and David says, that " the holy One (i. e* 
Christ) never shall see corruption,'' how comes it, that 
that host, that holy One, that Christ, is sometimes 
putrified? The substance of bread being only subject 
to corruption, being vanished, and the body of Jesus 
Christ substituted in its place, this body by a just in- 
ference is corrupted ; which is against the scripture, 
and against the divinity of Jesus Christ. 

Again, I ask whether the worms engendered in that 
host, come out of the real body of Christ, or out of 
the material substance of the host? If out of the body 
of Christ, every body may infer from this the conse- 



^14 A MASTER-KEY 

quences their own fancies suggest. And if they s^j, 
that the worms are engendered in the material sub- 
stance of bread, then the substance of the bread re- 
mains after the consecration, and not, as they say, the 
real substance of the body of Christ. 

Again, It is a rule given by all the casuists, that 
that host must be eaten by the priest. I ask the priest 
•that eats the host with the worms, whether he believ- 
eth that host ami worms to be the real body of Christ, 
or not? If he says, no: Why doth he eat it to the 
prejudice of his own health? And if he believeth it to 
be the renl body of Christ, I ask again whether the 
wonns are Christ, with body, soul and divinity, or 
not? If they are not, I give the said instance : and if 
they answer in the afBrmative j then I say, that a priest 
did not eat the host and worms, (as I saw myself) on 
pretence of the loathing of his stomach, and after tliHb 
mass was ended, he carried the host, (two priests ac- 
companying him with two candles) and threw it into 
a place, which they call piscina, a place where they 
throw the dirty water after they wash their hands, 
which runs out of the church into the street. What 
can we say now ? If the worms and corrupted host is 
the real body of Christ, see what a value they have for 
him, when they throw it away like dirty water j and 
if that host comes out of the running piscina into the 
street, the first dog or pig passing by, which is very 
common in Spain, may eat it. And if they are not, 
besides the said instance of eating it to the prejudice 
of their health, we may add this : namely, why do the 
priest and two more carry the host in form of proces** 



TOPOPEfeY. 216 

sioii and with so great veneration, with lights and 
psalms, as if it were the r^al body of Christ ? 

Now, as to the way of administering the sacrament 
to the people, they do it in the following manner, which 
is also against their fantastical transubstantiation, I 
said that the priest, or friar, consecrates small hosts 
once a week, to give them to the people when they go 
to receive. The priest in his surplice and with the 
stola on, goes to the altar, says the prayer of the sa- 
crament, openeth the tabernacle, and taking out of it 
the cup, opens it, and turning to the communicants, 
takes one of the wafers with his thumb and the fore- 
most finger of his right hand, lifts it up, and says, 
*• See the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of 
the world,'' which he repeats three times j and after 
goes straightway to the communicants, and puts a wa- 
fer into each of their mouths. When all have receiv- 
ed he puts the cup again into the tabernacle, and goes 
to the vestry. This is when the people receive before 
or after mass, It^ut when they receive at mass, the priest 
consecrates for himself a great host, and after he has 
eaten it, he talies the cup out of the tabernacle, and 
gives the small wafers, consecrated before by another 
priest, to the communicants, and putting the cup again 
into the tabernacle, or sacrarium as they call it, drinks 
the consecrated wine himself. 

I will not spend my time in proving, that the deny- 
ing of the chalice to the laity is a manifest error, and 
that it is only to extol and raise the ecclesiastical dig- 
nity to the highest pitch : but I come to their ridicu- 
lous, nonscilsical practices in several accidental cases, 



^16 A MASTER-KEY 

viz. First, I myself gave the sacrament to a lady, who 
had on that day a new suit of clothes ; hut she did not 
open her mouth wide enough to let the wafer on her 
tongue, and hy my carelessness it fell upon one of her 
sleeves, and from thence to the ground ; I ordered her 
not to quit the place till I had done ; so, after the com-^ 
munion was over, I went to her again, and cutting a 
piece of the sleeve where the wafer had touched, and 
scratching the ground, I took hoth tlie piece and dust, 
and carried them to the piscina, hut I was suspended 
ab officio and bencficio for eight days, as a punishment 
for my distra€lion, or for not minding well my busi- 
ness. By this rule and custom of throwing into the 
piscina, among the dirty water, every thing that the 
host has touched, they ought to throw the fingers of 
the priest, or at least the tongues of men and women, 
into the same place, and thus, their tricks and super- 
stitious ceremonies never would be discovered nor 
spread abroad. How inconsistent this custom is with 
right sense and reason, every body may see. 

Secondly. In the Dominicans' convent it happened 
that a lady, who had a lap-dog which she always used 
to carry along with her, went to receive the sacrament 
with the dog in her arms, and the dog looking up and 
beginning to hark when the friar went to put the wa- 
fer in the lady's mouth, he let it fall, and it happened 
to drop in the dog's mouth. Both the friar and the 
lady were in deep amazement and confusion, and knew 
not what to do ; so they sent for the reverend father 
prior, who did resolve this nice point upon the spot, 
and ordered to call two friars and the clerk, and to 



TO POPERY. 217 

bring the cross, and two candlesticks \vith candles 
lighted, and to carry the dog in form of procession in- 
to the vestry, and keep the poor little creature there 
with illuminations, as if he were the host itself, till the 
digestion of the wafer was over, and then to kill the 
dog, and throw it into the piscina. Another friar said, 
it was better to open the dog immediately, and take 
out the fragments of the host ; and a third was of opi- 
nion, that the dog should be burjtt upon the spot. The 
lady who loved dearly her Cupid (this was the dog's 
name) entreated the father prior to save the dog's life, 
if possible, and that she would give any thing to make 
amends for it. Then the prior and friars retired to 
consult what to do in this case, and it was resolved, 
1. That the dog should be called for the fnturef El pe- 
rillo del sacramento, i. e. The sacrament's dog. 2. 
That if the dog should happen to die, the lady was to 
give him a burying in consecrated ground. 3. That 
the lady should take care not to let liim play with other 
dogs. 4. That she was to give a silver dog which was 
to be placed upon the tabernacle where the liosts are 
kej^t. 5. That she was to give twenty pistoles to the 
convent. Ev^ery article was performed accordingly, 
and the dog was kept with a great deal of care and ve- 
neration. The case was printed, and so came to the 
cars of the inquisitors, and Don Pedro Guerrero first 
inquisitor, thinking the thing very scandalous, sent 
for the poor dog, and kept him in the inquisition to 
the great grief of the lady: wliat became of the dog 
nobody can tell. This case is worthy to be refiected 

on bv serious, learned men, who may draw consequen- 

T 



MS A MASTER-KEY 

ces to convince the Remans of the follies, covetousness, 
and superstitions of the priests. 

This I do aver, that after this case was published, it 
was disputed on in all the moral academies; but as I 
cannot tell all the sentiments and resolutions of them, 
I will confine myself to those of the academy of the 
holy trinity, wherein I was present, when the case was 
proposed by the president, in the following terms: 

^^ Most reverend and learned brethren, tlie case of 
the dog (blasphemously called the sacrament^s dog) 
deserves your application and searching, which onglit 
to be carried on with a wise, christian, and solid way 
of arguing, both in this case, or any other like it. For 
T»y part, I am surprised when I think of the irregular, 
unchristian method, the priors and friars took in the 
case, and botli the case and their resolution call for 
our mature consideration. Thanks be to God, that 
our people give full obedience to our mother the churclj, 
and that they enquire no further into the matter, after 
some of our teachers have advised them; otherwise 
the honor and reputation of our brethren would be quite 
ruined. For my part, salva Jide^ I think, that upon 
the same case, the priest ought to let the thing drop 
there, and to take no further notice, rather than to give 
^occasion to some critics to scandalize, and to lauglt at 
the whole clergy. Besides, that it is to abate the 
incomparable value of the Eucharistia, and to make it 
ridiculous before good, sensible men. Thus the presi- 
dent spoke; and 15 members of the academy were ofl 
his opinion. One of the members said, that being cer-l 
tain that the dog had eaten tlie real body and Wood of 



TO rOPERY. 219 

Jesus Christ, the priest, after the communion was over, 
was obliged to call the lady in private, and give a vo- 
mit to tlie dog, and to cast into the piscina, what lie 
should throw up. Another said, that the sacrament 
being a spiritual nourishment to the soul, he was oblig- 
ed to ask a question, and it was, whether the sensitive 
soul of the dog was nourished by the sacrament or not? 
All agreed in the afiirmative, upon which the questi- 
onist formed the following argument. The soul nou^ 
lushed by the sacrament of the body and blood of 
Christ, who is eternal life, is immortal j but the sensi- 
tive soul of the dog was nourished by Christ accord 
ing to your opinions : therefore the soul of the dog is 
immortal j then if immortal, where is it to go afkr 
death; to heaven, to hell, or to purgatory ? We must 
answer, to neither of these places : so v^e disovrn tliat 
the dog eat tlie body of Christ ; and there is more in 
the sacrament, tlian we can comprehend; 'dvAsalvaJi'' 
ckf and in the way of argument, 1 say, that the dog eat 
what we see in the host: and not what we believe*, 
thus^he member ended his discourse. 

After all these disputes, the case was thus resolved, 
that the priest should ask the inquisitors' advice, who 
being the judges in matters of faitl), may safely deter- 
mine what is to be done in such a case. 

Thirdly. I have said already in another place, that 
the reverend father friar James Garcia was reputed 
among the learned, tlie only man for divinity in this 
present age ; and that he was my master, and by his 
repeated kindness to me, I may say, that I was his 
well-beloved disciple* I was to defend a public thesis 



2W A MASTER-KEY 

of divinity in the University, and he was to be presi^ 
dent or moderator. The thesis contained the follow- 
ing treatises. De essentia ^- aitributis Dei : de visione 
beatijica: de gratia justijicante ^ auxiliante : de Provi- 
dentia: de actu libera: de Trinitate: Sf de sacrameniis 
in gertere. x\ll which I had learned from him. The 
shortest treatise of all he taught publicly in the uni- 
vei-sity, was the Eueharistia. The proofs of his opi- 
nion were short, and the objections against them \Qvy 
succinct and dark. I must confess, that I was full of 
confusion and uneasiness, for fear that some doctor of 
divinity would make an argument against our opi- 
iiion touching t!ie sacrament of Eueharistia. And 
' I asked my master to instruct me, and furnish me 
with answers suitable to the most diffi ult objections 
that could be proposed ; but thougli he desired 
me to be easy about it, and that, upon necessity, he 
would answer for me ; I replied with the following ob - 
jection : God never will punish any man for not be- 
lieving what is against the evidence of our senses, but 
the real presence in Eueharistia is so : therefore, salva 
JidCj God will not punish any man for not believing the 
real presence of Christ there. To this he told me, 
that none of the doctors would propose sucli an argu- 
ment to me, and he advised me not to make such an 
objection in public, but to keep it in my heart. But 
father, said J, I ask your answer ; my answer is, said 
he, Miud lingna doceOf aliud corde credo, i. e.. I teach 
one thing, and I believe another. By these instances 
I have given now, every body may easily know the 



To POrERY. 221 

corruptions of the Romish chiurii, and the nonsensical 
opinions of their piiests and friars, as also, that the 
learned do not believe in their hearts, that there is 
such a monster as transubstantiation, though for some 
worldly ends, they do not discover their true sentiments 
about it. 

Now I proceed to the worslup and adoration, both 
the clergy and laity pay to the holy host or sacrament. 

And I shall not say any thing of what the people do 
when the priest in a procession under a caiiopy, car- 
rieth the sacrament to the sick, for this custom and 
the pomp of it, and the idolatrous worship and adora- 
tion offered to it, is well known by our travellers and 
olQcers of the army. 

Philip IV. king of Spain, as he was hunting, met 
in the way a crowd of people following a |)riest, and 
asking the reason, he was told, that the priest carried 
the consecrated wafer in his bosom to a sick person ; 
the priest did walk, and tiie king leaving liis horse, 
desired t!ie priest to mount and ride on it, and holding 
the stirrup, bareheaded, he followed the priest all the 
w^ayto the house, a ndgave him the horse for a present. 
From the king to the shepherd, all people pay the same 
adoration to t!ie holy host ; which shall be better 
known by the pomp and magnificence they carry the 
great host with, in the solemn festival of corpus ChriS" 
iU or of Christ's body. I sljall describe only the ge- 
neral procession made on that day in Zaragossa, of 
wliich I was an eye-witness. 

Though the festival oi corpus Christi be a movealile 
feasts it always falls on a Thursday. That dav is 



222 A MASTER-KEY 

made the great general procession of corpus Christi : 
and the Sunday following, every congregation through 
the streets of the parish, and every convent of friars 
and nuns through, the cloisters of the convent, go with 
great pomp to the private procession of Christ's body* 
As to the general great one, the festival is ordered in 
the following manner. 

I'he dean of the cathedral church of St. Salvator 
sends an officer to snmnion all the communities of fri- 
ars, all the clergy 43f the parish churches, the viceroy, 
governor and magistrates, the judges of the civil ami 
orimi^sal council, with the lord chancellor of the king- 
dom, and all the fraternities, brotherhoods, or corpo- 
rations of the city, to meet together on the Thursday 
following, in the metropolitan cathedra! church of Si. 
Salvator, with all the standards, trumpets, giants,^ 
both of the greater and lesser size in their respective 
habits of office or dignity; and all the clergy of the 
parish churches, and friars of convents, to bring along 
with them in a procession, with due reverence all the 
silver bo'lies of saints on a base or pedestal, which are 
in their churches and convents: item, orders are pub- 
lished in every street, that the inhabitants, or house- 
keepers, are to clean the streets which the sacrament 
Is to go tiirough, and cover t'le ground with greens 
and fiovvers, and pat the best hangings in the fronts of 



* Three large giant men, aiid three giant women ; and six- 
^^m?/;! ones J dressed in ii)en and womens' clothes, mnde of thin 
-;r:)'U and carried by a mawhic] under tlie clothes. The large 
ones ;-,re niteen feet high, which are ker 
citv\ for the magnificence and ^plerrdor of that day. 



TO POPERY. 223 

the balconies and windows : all which, is done accord- 
ingly ; or else lie that doth not obey and perforin such 
orders, is to pay twenty pistoles without any excuse 
whatsoever. 

At three in the afternoon, the viceroy goes in state 
with the governor, judges, magistrates and officers, to 
meet the archbishop in his palace, and to accompany 
his grace to church, where all the communities of fri- 
ars, clergy, and corporations, are waiting for them. 
The dean and chapter receive them at the great porch, 
and after the archbishop has made a prayer before 
the great altar, the music begins to sing, Pangelingua 
glonosa^ while the archbjshop takes out of the taber- 
nacle the host upon the rich chalice, and places it on 
the great custodia, on tlie altar's table. Then the choir 
begins tlie evening songs, in which the archbishop in 
his pontifical habit officiates, and when all is over, his 
grace giveth the blessing. to the people with the sa- 
crament in his hands. Then the archbishop, with the 
help of the dean, archdeacon and chanter, placeth the 
custodia on a gilt pedestal, Vvluch is adorned wit)i 
flowers and the jewels of several ladies of quality, and 
which is carried on the shoulders of twelve priests^ 
dressed in the same ornaments they say mass in. This 
being done, the procession begins to go out of the 
churf h in the folio whig order. 

First of all the bag|)ipe, and the great and small 
giants, dancing all along the streets. 2. The large 
silver cross of the cathedral, carried by a clerk-priest, 
and tw<> young assistants^ v/itli silver candlesticks and 
lighted candles. S. From the cross to the piper, a 



;^ii. A MASTER-KEY 

man witli a high hook goes and comes back ag^iiu 
while the procession lasts. The hook is called St. 
PauPs hook, because it belongs to St. PauPs church. 
That hook is very sharp, and they make use of it in 
that procession, to cut down the signs of taverns and 
shops, for fear that the holy custodia should be spoil- 
ed. 4'. The standard and sign of the youngest corpo- 
ration, and all the members of it, with a v*^ax candle 
in their hands, forming two lines, whom all the corpo- 
rations follow one after another in the same order. 
There are 30 corporations, and the smallest is com- 
posed of 30 members. 5. The boys and girls of the 
blue liospital with their master, mistress, and the chap- 
lain in his alva, stola, and long sacerdotal cloak 

6. The youngest religion, (the order of St. Francis, 
is called St. Francis's religion, and so are all orders, 
which they reckon 70, and which we may really, in 
the phrase of a satirical gentlensan, call 70 religions 
without religion) with their reverend, and two friars 
more at the end of each order, drest in the ornamentii 
tbey use at the altar : and so all tlie orders go one af- 
ter another in the same manner. There are twenty 
convents of friars, and on tliis solemn festival, every 
one being obliged to go to the procession, we reckon 
tliere may be about 2000 present on this occasion; and 
±6 convents of nmis, the number of them by regular 
c 3 1500. 7. The clergy of the youngest 

p'.iri'Hj, Willi liie parish cross before, and the minister 
of it behind them in sacred ornaments. And so the 
Clergy of the otlier parishes follow one another in the 
same order, every friiir and priest having a white wax 
rauvlle iicLted in hlfi Laiiil. 



TO POPERY* 225 

The number of secular priests constantly residing 
in Zaragossa is about 1200 : so by the said accou^its^ 
we fiud all the ecclesiastical persons to amount to 
4700, when the whole of the inhabitants are 15000 fa- 
milies. 

8. The clergy of the cathedrals of St, Salvatof and 
tlie Lady of Pilar, with all tlieir sacerdotal orname its, 
as also the musicians of both the cathedrals : t go 
before the custodiaor sacrament, singing ail ih: way. 
Then the twelve priests that carry the canopy* under 
wiiich the sacrament goes, and under the end of'it the 
dean, and two prebends as deacon and siibdeacon. 
The archbishop in his pontifical habit goes at the sub- 
deacon's right hand, the viceroy at the archbishop's, 
and the deacon and subdeacon one at the right, and 
the other at thq left, all under the canopy, Si:^ 
]>riests, with incense and incensarics on both sides of 
the custodia, go incensing the sacrament without in- 
termission ; for while one kneels down before the great 
host, and incenses it three times, the other puts in- 
cense in his incensary, and goes to relieve the other, 
and thus they do, from the coming out of the church, 
tiil they return back again to it, 

9. The great cliancellor, presidents, and councils 
follow after, and after all, the nol)ility, men and wo- 
men, with lighted candles. This procession lasts four 
hours from the time it goes out tiil it comes into the 
church again. All the bells of the convents and 
parishes ring all this time; and if there were not so 
many idolatrous ceremonies in tliat procession, it 
would be a pleasure to see the streets so richly adorn- 



^26 A MASTER-KEY 

ed with the best hangings, and the variety of per>sotis 
in the procession. 

The riches of that procession are incredible to a 
foreigner ^ but matters of fact, the truth of which may 
be inquired into, must be received by all serious peo- 
ple. I have spoken already of tlie rich custodiat 
which the archbishop of Seville gave to the cathedral, 
and of the rich chalice set in diamonds. Now besides 
these two things, we reckon thirty-three silver crosses 
belonging to the convents and parish churches, ten 
feet high, and about the thickness of the pole of a 
coach ; thirty-throe small crosses, which the priests 
and friars wlio officiate that day, carry in their hands; 
these crosses, though small, are richer than the large 
ones I because in the middle of the cross there is a re- 
lick, which, as they say, is a piece of the wood of t!ie 
cross on which our Saviour was crucified, and which 
they call holy wood. Tiiis relick is set in precious 
stones, and many of them in diamonds. Thirty-three 
sacerdotal cloaks to officiate in, made of Tusy d^or, 
edged with pearls, emeralds, rubies, and other rich 
stones. Sixty-six silver candlesticks, four feet high. 
A large gold possenet, and a gold handle for the hy- 
sop, six incensaries, four of them silver, and two of 
gold ; four silver incense boxes, and two gold ones. 
Three hundred and eighty silver bodies of saints on 
their rich gilt pedestals, of which two hundred are 
whole bodies, and the rest half, but many are gilt, and 
several wear mitres on their heads, embroidered with 
precious stones. Tlie image of St. Michael with the 
devil under his feet, and the image with wings, are of 
solid silver gilt all over. _ 



TO POPERY. m 

With tliis iiiagnificence they carry the sacrament 
through the principal streets of tfie city, and all the 
people that are in the balconies and lattice windows 
throw roses and other flowers npon^he canopy of the 
sacrament as it goes by. When the procession is 
over, and the sacrament placed in the tabernacle: 
there is a stage before the altar to act a sacramental 
©r divine comedy, which lasts about an hour, and this 
custom is practised also on Christmas eve. By these, 
every body may know their bigotries, superstitions 
and idolatries. 

Now I come to say something of the strange noti- 
ons, the priests and friars, confessors and preachers, 
put in the peoples' heads concerning the host. First, 
tliey preach and charge the people to adore the sacra- 
ment, but never to touch the consecrated host or wa- 
fer, this being a crime against the holy catholic faith ; 
and that all such as dare to touch it, must be burned 
in the inquisition. Secondly, to believe that the real 
flesh and blood of Jesus Christ is in the eucbarist ; and 
that, though they cannot see it, they ought to submit 
their understanding to the catholic faith. Thirdly, 
that if any T}ody could lawfully touch the host or wa- 
fer, and prick it with a pin, blood shall come out im- 
mediately^ which they pretend to prove with many 
miracles, as that of the corporales of Daroca, which, 
as it comes apropos, I cannot pass by without giving 
an account of it. 

Daroca is an ancient city of the kingdom of Arra- 
gon, which bordereth on Castilla. It is famous among 
flie Spaniards for its situation and strength, and for 



^tS A MASTER-KEY 

the mine that is in a neighbouring mountain to it* For 
the floods coming with impetuosity against the walls> 
and putting the city in great danger, the inhabitants 
dug three liundred yards from one end of the mount 
to the other, and made a subterranean passage, and 
the floods going that way, the city is ever since free 
from danger. But it is yet more famous for wliat they 
call corporales. The story is this : When the Moors 
invaded Spain, a curate near Daroca took all imagi- 
nable care to save the consecrated wafers that were 
in the tabernacle, and not to see them profaned by the 
infidels and open enemies of their faitli. There were 
Hut five small hosts in all, which he put within the fine 
holland on w^hich the priest puts the great host when 
he says mass: and this piece of holland is called cor- 
porales. The Moors were at that time near, and no- 
body could make an escape, and the priest ready to 
loseliis own life, rather than to see the hosts profan- 
ed, tied the corporales with the five wafers in it, on a 
blind mule, and whipping the beast out of town, said, 
speed you well, for I am sure that the sacrament on 
your back will guide you to some place free from the 
enemies of our religion. The mule journeyed on, and 
the next day arrived at Daroca, and some people ob- 
serving the corporales tied with the holy stola to the 
mule's belly, were surprised at so rare and unexpect- 
ed a thing, and trailing a priest of the great parish 
church, he came to the mule, and examining the thing, 
found the five wafers converted into blood, and stamp- 
ed on the holland cloth ; which spots of blood, (or 
painting) of the bigness of a tenpenny piece, are pre- 



TO POPERY. 22Sf 

sferved till this present time. Then the priest crying 
out, a miracle, the clergy in great devotion and pro- 
cession came with candles and a canopy, and taking 
the mule under it, went to the great church; and when 
the minister of the parish had taken the stola and cor- 
porales from off the mule, he went to place the corpo- 
rales on the ara altariSf or the altar's table, but the 
mule not well pleased with it, left the company, and 
went up to the steeple or belfry : then the parish mi- 
nister (tliougli not so wise as the mule) followed the 
mule up stairs, and seeing the beast mark a place there 
with its mouth, he soon understood, that the mule be» 
ing blind, could neither go up, nor mark that place 
without being inspired from above; and having per- 
suaded the people of the same, all agreed that there 
should be a little chapel built to keep the holy corpo- 
rales. When this resolution was approved by the 
clergy and laity, the mule died on the steeple. At the 
same time the curate having made liis escape, and by 
divine inspiration following the mule's steps, came to 
Daroca, and telling the whole case of his putting the 
sacrament on the mule to save it from profanation, both 
clergy and laity began to cry out, ^^ A miracle from 
heaven :'' and immediately further agreed, that the 
mule should be embalmed and kept before the holy €or- 
porales in the steeple, ad perpetnam rci memo7iam: 
Item, to make a mule of tbe best stone could be found 
in honor of the mule, and that for the future his name 
should be the holy mule. AH things being done ac- 
cordingly, and the city having never been mastered by 
the Moors., as tlie inhabitants say, they instituted a so- 

U 



230 A MASTER-KEY 

lemn festival, to wliich ever since the neighbours, even 
fourteen leagues distant, come every year. Those 
that go up to the steeple to see the holy miracle of the 
wafers converted into blood, and the holy mule, must 
pay four reals of plate. Tlie people of Daroca call it 
sometimes, the holy mystery, another time, the lioly 
miracle; the sacrament of the mule by some igno- 
rants : The holy sacrament on a mule by the wise, &c. 
I myself took a journey to see this wonder of Daroca, 
and paying the fees, went up to have a full view of ev- 
ery thing : and really I saw a mule of stone, and a 
coffin wherein the embalmed mule was kept, as the 
clerk told me,, but he did not open it, for the key is 
kept always at the bishop's palace : I saw likewise 
the linen with five red spots in a little box of gilt sil- 
ver, two candles always burning before it, and a glass 
lamp before the mule's coffin. At that time I believed 
every part of the story. All sorts of people believe as 
an infallible truth, that every body's sigtit is preserv- 
ed during life, in the same degree of strength and 
clearness it is in at the time they see these bloody spots, 
which is prov ed by many instances of old women, who 
by tliat means have excellent eyes to the last. Item, 
they give out that no blind person ever came before 
the corporalcs w ithout his sight being restored to him; 
which 1 firmly believe; for no blind person ever w^as 
up in the steeple. I cannot swear this, but I have good 
reason to affirm it; for in the first place, there is a 
small book printed, called Directions for the Faithful 
People, teaching tliem how to prepare themselves be- 
fore they go up to sec the holy mystery of the corpo- 



TO POPERY. 23i 

rales of Daroca. One of the advices to the blind is, 
that they must confess and receive tlie sacrament, and 
have the soul as clean-as crystal, and endeavour to go 
up to the steeple from the altar^s table without any 
guide ; and if some cannot go as far as the chapel of 
tlie belfrey, it is a r>ign that man is not well prepared. 
The distance between the altar and the steeple's door 
is about forty yards, and there are nine strong pillars 
in the body of the church : so the poor blind people 
befoi^e they can reach the beifrey's door, commonly 
break their noses, some their heads, &c. And some 
more cautious and careful, and happy in finding ont 
tlie door, when they are in the middle of the stairs, tinxi 
a snare or stock, and break their legs; for 1 remeni- 
ber very well when I went up myself, I saw a sort of 
a window in the middle of one of the steps, and asking 
the use of it, the clerk told ine, it was to let down through 
it the rope of the great bell. Then I did not inquire 
further; but now^ being sure, that there was but that 
small window shut up in the whole pair of winding 
stairs, I conclude, that it could not be there for the said 
use, and in all probability that window was the snare 
to catch the poor blind people in. Therefore the clerk 
being not sure of the miracle, by this prevents the dis- 
covery of the want of virtue of the holy corporales, to 
cure all diseases, and at the same time gives out a mi- 
racle, and the miracle is, that the blind man has broke 
his leg, and that it is a just punisliment, for daring 
to go up either unprepared or with little faith : so no 
blind man has recovered sight by the virtue of the cor- 
porales. 



232 "" * A MASTER-KEY 

By means of this same direction, no sick person 
durst go up; but if they recover, it must be a miracle 
of the holy mystery. And if a mule iiappen to be sick, 
the master of it goes and makes the beast give three 
turns round the steeple, thinking that its brother mule 
lias power to cure it. 

Many will be apt to suspect the truth of this story ; 
nay, some will think it a mere forgery; but I appeal 
to several officers of the army that went through Da- 
roca, to be witnesses for me. It may be they were 
not told all the circumstances of it, because the people 
there haye strange notions of an heretick ; but the mule 
and corporales being the most remarkable things in 
the city, I am sure many heard of it, though no here- 
tick could see the holy mystery, being a thing forbid- 
den by their church. 

With this, and the like pretended miracles, priests 
and friars, confessors and preachers, make the people 
believe the real presence of Clirist's body in the host, 
and the ineffable virtue of this sacrament to cure all 
bodily distempers : nay, what is more than all these, 
they persuade, and make the people believe, that if a 
man or a woman has the consecrated wafer by them, 
they cannot die suddenly; nay, nor be killed by vio- 
lent hands : so great is the power of the host, they 
say, that if you shew it to the enraged sea, the storm 
immediately ceaseth ; if you carry it with you, you 
oannot die, especially a sudden death. And really they 
may venture to give out this doctrine as an infallible 
point ; for they are sure no body will dare touch the 
host^ and much less to carry it with him, it being so 



TO POPERY. ^33 

Ing'h a crime, that if any body was found out with the 
consecrated wafer on liis body, the sentence is alrea- 
dy passed by the inquisitors, that such a person is to 
be burnt alive. 

A parish priest carrying the consecrated liost to a 
sick person, out of the town, was killed by a flasli of 
liglitning, which accident being clearly against this 
pretended infallible power of the host, the people took 
the liberty to talk about it; but tlie clergy ordered a 
funeral sermon, to which the nobility and common peo- 
ple were invited by the common crier. Every body 
expected a funeral sermon ; but the preacher, taking 
for his text ^» Judicium sihi inanducat,^^ did prove, that 
that priest, killed by a flash of lightning, was certain- 
ly damned, and that his sudden death, wisiie he had the 
consecrated host in his hands, was the reward of his 
wickedness ; and that this death was to be looked up- 
on as a miracle of the holy host, rather than an instance 
against the infinite power of it; for, said he, we have 
carefully searched and examined every thing, and have 
found that he was not a priest, and tlierefore had no 
authority to touch the host, nor administer the sacra- 
ment of the eucharist. And with this the murmur of 
the people ceased, and everybody afterwards thought, 
that the sudden death of the priest was a manifest mi- 
racle wrouglit by the host, and a visible punishment 
from heaven for his sacrilegious crimes. 

The truth is, that the priest was ordained by the bi- 
shop of Tarasona, in Arragon. The thing happened 
in the city Calatayed, in the same kingdom ; his name 



V 2 



23* A MASTER-KEY 

^as Mossen Pedro Aquilar, he was buried in the 
church, called the sepulchre of our Lord. The reverend 
father Fombuena was the preacher, and I was one of 
the hearers, and one that believed the thing as the 
preacher told us, till after a while, some members of 
the academy having examined the case, and found that 
he was really a priest, proposed it to the assembly, 
that every body might give his opinion about it. The 
president said that such a case was not to be brought 
into question, but the doctrine of the cliurch touching 
Eucl)aristia to be believed without any scruples. 

Again, that the host has no virtue nor power to 
oalm the raging sea, I know myself by experience; 
and as tiie relation of the tiling may prove effectual to 
convince other Roman catholics of their erroneous be- 
lief, as well as the passage itself did me, it seems fit 
in this place to give an account of it, and I pray Goct 
i^iighty, that it may please him to give all the Ro- 
man catholics the same conviction, some way or other, 
his infiiiite goodiiess was pleased to give me,^ that they 
may take as firm a resolution as I have taken, to es- 
pouse the safest waf to salvation ; for if we take 
our ni^sure|^cencerning the truths of religion from 
tlie rules of the holy sci'iptures, and the platform 
of the primitive cliuiches; nay, if the religion of 
Jesus Christ, as it is delivered in the New Festament, 
be the true; religion, as i am certain it is, and the best 
and safest way to salvation ; then certainly the pro- 
testant religion is the purest, that is, at this day, in 
the world; the most ortliodox iu faith, and the freest 
on the oiie hand from idolatry andsuperslition, and 



TO POPERY. 235 

on the other, from whimsical novelties and enthusi- 
asms of any now extant ; and not only a safe way to 
salvation, but the safest of any 1 knov/ in tlie world. 
Now I come to my story. 

After I left my country, making use of several stra- 
tagems and disguises, I went to France, dressed in offi- 
cer's clothes, and so I was known by some at Paris, 
under the name of the Spanish officer. My design 
w^as to come to England, but the treaty of Utrecht not 
being concluded, I could not attempt to come from Ca- 
lais to Dover, without a pass. I was perfectly a 
stranger in Paris, and without any acquaintance, only 
one French priest, who had studied in Spain, and 
could speak Spanish perfectly well, which was a great 
satisfaction to me, for at that time I could not speak 
French. The priest, to whom I made some presents, 
was interpreter of the Spanish letters to the king's 
confessor, father le Telier, to w^hom he introduced mej 
I spoke to him in Latin, and told him, I had got a 
great fortune by the death of an uncle in London, and 
that I should be very much obliged to his reverence^ 
if by his influence I could obtain a pass. The priest 
had told him that I was a captain, wliicli the father 
believed; and my brother having been a captain, 
though at that time he was dead, it was an easy thing 
to pass for him. The first visit was favourable to me, 
for the father confessor promised to get me a pass, 
and bid me call for it two or three days after, wliich 
1 did ; but I found the reverend very inquisitive, ask- 
ing me several questions in divinity : I answered to 
all, that I had studied only a little Latin: be then told 



236 A MASTER-KEY 

me, there was no possibility of obtaisiin;!^ a pass for 
England, and that if I had committed any irregular 
thing in the army, lie would give me a letter for the 
king of Spain, to obtain my pardon, and make my 
peace with him again. I confess this speech made me 
very uneasy, and I began to suspect some danger; so 
I thanked him for his kind offer to me, and told him I 
had committed nothing against my king or country, 
which I would convince him of by refusing his favour,, 
and by returning back into Spain that very week : so 
I took my leave of him, and the day following I left 
Paris, and went back to St. Sebastian, where I kept 
my lodgings till I got the opportunity of a ship for 
Lisbon. The merchants of Zaragossa trade to St. 
Sebastian, and I was afraid of being known, and dis- 
covered by some of them, and for this reason I kept 
close in my room, giving out that I was not well. 
How to get a ship was the only difficulty ; but F wa» 
freed from this, by sending for the father rector of the 
Jesuits, on pretence that I was very ill, and was will- 
ing to confess n\y sins : accordingly, he came that ve- 
ry day, and I began my confession, in which I only 
told him, that as I was an officer in the army, and had 
killed another officer, for which the king had ordered 
me to be taken up, so that my life being in danger, and 
my conscience in trouble, on account of the murder, I 
j)nt both life and soul into his hands. He asked me all 
the usual questions; but 1 confessing no other sin, the 
father thought I was a good christian, and something 
great in the world; so he bade me be easy, and mind 
nothing but to keep myself in readiness for my voyage. 



TO POPERY. 237 

and that he would send a captain of a ship to me that 
very night, who should take me along with him into 
the ship, and sail out the next morning : and so all was 
performed accordingly, and I went that night to em- 
bark. What directions the fatlier rector gave to the 
captain I-knew not; this I know, that I was treated 
as if I was the son of a grandee, and served by the 
captain himself. This was the first time of my being 
at sea in my life, so I was very sick the two first days ; 
the third day a great storm began, which put me iu 
fear of losing my life. But then calling to my memo- 
ry, that the divine power was said to be in a conse- 
crated host to calm the raging sea, and knowing that 
a priest had power to consecrate at any time, and eve- 
ry where, upon urgent necessity, I went into the cap- 
tain's cabin, and took one of the white wafers he made 
use of for sealing letters, and being alone, I made this 
promise before God Almighty from the bottom of my 
heart, that if he would graciously condescend to re- 
move my scruples at once, by manifesting the real pre- 
sence of his body in the host, and its infinite power, by 
calming the raging tempest at the siglit of one I was 
g jing to consecrate, then I would sti'aight turn back 
again into my church and country, and live and die in 
the Romish communion ; but if the effect did not an- 
swer to the doctrine preached of the host, then I would 
live and die in the church that knoweth no such er- 
rors, nor obeyeth the pope. After tliis promise, I said 
my prayers of preparation to consecrate,- and after I 
had consecrated one wafer, which I was sure in my 
conscience was duly consecrated, (for the want of or- 



23S A MASTER-KEY 

naments and a decent place, is no hindrance to the va- 
lidity of the priest's consecration) I went up, and hid- 
ing the wafer from the captain and crew of the ship, I 
shewed it to the sea, and tremblin; all over, stood in 
that condition for half an hour: but the storm at that 
time increased so violently, that wc lost the mast of 
the ship, and the captain desired me to go down. I 
was willing to wait a little longer for the efficacy of 
the host, but finding none at all, 1 went down, and 
kneeling, I began to pray to God, and thinking I was 
obliged to eat the consecrated host for reverence sake, 
I did eat it, but v/ithout any faith of the efficacy and 
power of it. Then I vowed before God, never to be- 
lieve any doctrines of the Romisli church, but those 
that were ta?ight by Jesus Christ and his apostles, and 
to live and die in that only. After this vow, though 
the storm continued for a day and a night, my heart 
was calmed, all my fears vanished, and, though with 
manifest danger of our lives, we got safe into Vigo's 
harbour. 

I left the ship there, and went to Portugal by land, 
having an inward joy and easiness in my heart ; but 
stopping at Porto Porto to take a little rest, I fell 
si( k of an intermitting fever, which brought me to the 
very point of death three times, in three months and 
nine days. Tiie minister of the parish being told by 
my landlord the condition I was in, past hopes of re- 
covery, came to visit me, and desired me to confess 
and receive as a good christian ought to do ; but I 
thanked him for his good advice, told him that I Was 
not so sick as he believed, and that I would send for 



TO FOPEIIY. 23^ 

him if 1 had any occasion; and really I never believed 
that I was to die of that distemper, and by this thought 
I freed myself from priests and confessors. 

When I v/as out of danger, and well recovered, I 
went to Lisbon, where I had the opportunity of talk- 
ing with some English merchants, who exjdained to 
me some pt)ints of the protestant religion, and my 
heart was in such a disposition, that their worr's did 
affect me more then all the sermons and moral sums 
of the Romish ( hurch had ever done before. 

I knew a captain in the Spanish army, Don Alonzo 
Corsega by name, who was killed at the siege of Leri- 
da, in whose bosom was found, in a little purse, the con- 
secrated w^afer, for which his body w as burnt to ashes. 
It is very likely, that the poor man thinking to escape 
from death by that means, he took it out of his mouth 
when he went to receive, and kept it as an amulet 
against the martial instruments, which paid no re- 
spect to its fancied divinity. 

Now^ by these instances I have given you already, it 
appears, that the practices of the Romish priests in 
the administration of the eucharist, either to healthy 
or sick people, are only observed for interest's sake, 
as the worship and adoration given to the consecrated 
v^afer tends only to the increase of their treasure. x\nd 
lastly, the doctrine of transubstantiation and real pre- 
sence of Christ, which they endeavour to make the 
people believe by supposed miracles, is only to cheat 
and blind the poor laity, and raise in them a great 
reverence and admiration of their persons and office, 
Lord God, who receiveth into thy favour tliosc 



240 A MASTER-KEY 

that fear thee, and do work righteousnCwSs, suffer not 
so many thousands of innocent people to be led in the 
way of error, but enlighten them with thy spirit, put 
the ligi't of thy gospel upon the candlestick, that all 
those who are in darkness may by that means come to 
the safe way of salvation, and live and die in the pro- 
fession of thy truth, and the purity of that perfect re- 
ligion taught by thine only Son, our Saviour Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Of Purgatory. 

I cannot give a real account of purgatory, but I 
will tell all I know of the practices and doctrines of 
the Romish priests and friars, in relation to that 
imaginary place, which indeed must be of a vast ex*- 
tent and almost infinite capacity^ if> as the priests 
give out, there are as many apartments in it, as condi- 
tions and ranks of people in the world among Roman 
catholics. 

The intenseness of the fire in purgatory is calculat- 
ed by them, which they say is eight degrees, and that 
of hell only four degrees. But there is a great diffe- 
rence between these two fires; in this, viz. That of 
purgatory (though more intense, active, consu^iing 
and devouring) is but for a time, of whicij the souls 
may be freed by the suffrages of masses ; but that of 
hell is forever : in both places, they say, the souls arc 
tormented, and deprived of the glorious sight of God; 
but the souls in purgatory (though they endure a great i 



TO POPERY. 241 

deal more than those in hell) have certain hopes of see- 
ing God sometime or other, and that hope is enough to 
cause them to he called the hlessed souls. 

Pope Adrian III. confessed that tliere was no men* 
tion of purgatory in scripture, or in the writings of 
the holy fathers; hut notwithstanding this, the council 
of Trent has settled the doctrine of purgatory without 
alleging anyone passage of the holy scripture, and 
gave so much liberty to priests and friars by it, that 
they build in that fiery palace, apartments for kings, 
princes, grandees, noblemen, merchants and trades- 
men, for ladies of quality, for gentlemen and trades- 
mens' wives, and for poor common people. These are 
the eight apartments, which answer to the eight de- 
grees of intensiis igniSf i. e. intense fire; and they make 
the people believe, that the poor people only endure 
the least degree ; the second being greater, is for gen- 
tlewomen and tradesmens' wives, and so on to the 
eighth degree, which being the greatest of all, is re- 
served for kings. By this wicked doctrine they get 
gradually masses from all sorts and conditions of peo- 
ple, in proportion to their greatness. But as the pooF 
cannot give so many masses as the great, the lowest 
f chamber of purgatory is always crowded with the re- 

Educed souls of those fortunately unfortunate people, 
for they say to them, that the providence of God has 
ordered every thing to the ease of his creatures, and 
that foreseeing that the poor people could not afford the 
same number of masses that the rich could, his infinitp 
goodness had placed them in the place of less suffeji*- 
ings in purgatory. 

X 



2i2 A MASTER-KEY 

But it is a remarkable thing, tliat many poor, silly 
tradesmens' wives, desirous of lionor in the next worlds 
ask the friars, whether the souls of their fathers, mo- 
thers, or sist#s,canbe removecT from the second apart- 
ment (reckoning from the lowest) to the tliird, think- 
ing by it, that though the third degree of fire is great- 
er than the second, yet the soul would be better pleas- 
ed in the company of ladies of quality : but the worst 
is, that the friar makes such women believe, that he 
may do it very easily, if they give the same price for 
a mass, tlie ladies of quality give. I knew a shoema- 
ker's wife, very ignorant, proud, and full of punctilios 
of honor, who went to a Franciscan friar, and told him, 
that she desired to know, whether her own father's 
soul was in purgatory or not, and in what apartment. 
The friar asked her how many masses she conld spare 
for it, she said two ; and the friar answered, your fa- 
ther's soul is among the beggars. Upon hearing this, 
the poor woman began to cry, and desired the friar to 
put him, if possible, in the fourth apartment, and she 
-would pay him for it ; and the quantum being settled, 
the friar promised to place him there the next day : so 
the poor woman ever since gives out that her father 
was a rich merchant, for it was revealed to her, that 
liis soul is among the merchants in purgatory. 

Now what can we say, but that the pope is the chief 
governor of that vast idace, and priests and friars the 
quartei^-masters that billet the souls according to their 
own fancies, and have the power, and give for money 
the king's apartments to the soul of a slioe-maker, and 
that of a lady of quality to her washer-woman. 



TO POPEIIY. 2*3 

But mind reader, how chaste the friars are in pro- 
curing a scjiarate place for ladies in purgatory : they 
suit this doctrine to the temper of a people whom they 
believe to be extremely jealous, and really not without 
ground, and so no soul of a woman can be placed 
among men. Many serious people are well pleased 
with this christian caution ; but those that are given 
to pleasure, do not like it at all 5 and I knew a plea- 
sant young collegian, wlio went to a friar, and told 
him; '^ Father, I own I love the fair sex ; and I believe 
that my soul will always retain that inclination : I am 
told, that no man's soul can be in company with la- 
dies, and it is a dismal thing for me to think, that I 
must go there, (but as for hell, I am in no danger of it, 
thanks to the pope) where I shall never see any more 
women, which will prove the greatest of torments for 
my soul; so I have resolved to agree with your reve- 
rence beforehand, upon this point. I have a bill of 10 
pistoles upon Peter la Vinna, banker, and if you can 
assure me, either to send me straight to heav-en when 
I die, or to the ladies' apartment in purgatory, you 
shall have the bill ; and if you cannot, I must submit 
to the will of God, like a good christian.'' The friar 
seeing the bill, wiiich he thought ready money, told 
him, that he could do either of the two, and that he 
himself might choose which of the two places he pleas- 
ed. But father, said the collegian, the case is, that I 
love Donna Teresa Spinola, and she does not love me, 
and I do not believe I can expect any favour from her 
in this world, so I would know whether she is to go 
before me to purgatory, or not? .' that is very cer- 



^24^ A MASTER-KEY 

tain, said tiie friar. I clioose then, said the collegiah, 
the lady^s apartment, and here is the bill, if you give 
me a certificate under your hand, that the thing shall 
be so : but the friar refusing to give him any authen- 
tic certificate, the collegian laughed at him, and made 
satirical verses upon him, which were printed, and 
which I myself read. I knew the friar too, who being 
mocked publicly, was obliged to remove from his con- 
vent to another in the country. 

Notwithstanding all these railleries, of whicli the in- 
quisitoi'S cannot take notice, being not against the ca- 
tholic faith I priests and friars dally endeavour to 
])rove that purgatory is a real existent place, and that 
by masses, the souls detained in it are daily delivered 
out of it. And this they prove by many revelations 
made to devout, pious people^ and by many appari- 
tions. 

They not orJy preach of them publicly, but books 
are printed of such revelations and ai)paritions. I re- 
member many of them, but I shall not trouble the rea- 
der with them ; only I will tell some of the most re- 
markable ones of niy time. 

In Mie latter end of king Charles the second's reign, 
a nun of Guadalajara wrote a letter to his majesty, ac- 
quainting him that it was revealed to her by an an- 
gel, that the soul of his father, Philip IV. was still in 
purgatory, (all alone in the royal apartments) and like- 
wise in the lowest chamber, the said king Philip's 
shoemaker, and that upon saying so many masses, both 
should be delivered out of it, and should go to enjoy 
the ravishing pleasures of an eternal life. The nun 



Tt) rOPERY. £4^ 

was reputed a vSalnt upon earth, and the simple king 
gave orders to his confessor to say, or order so many 
masses to be said, for that purpose; after which, the 
said nun wrote again to his majesty, congratulating 
and wishing him joy for the arrival of his father in 
heaven; but t!iat the shoemaker, who was seven de- 
grees lower than Philip in purgatory, was then seven 
degrees higher than his majesty in heaven, because of 
his better life on earth, who never had committed any 
sin with women, as Philip had done ail his life-time, 
but that all was forgiven to him on the account of the 
masses. 

Again, they give out in the pulpit, that the pope has 
an absolute power to make the mass elUcacious to de- 
liver the soul, f^:»r which it is said, out of that place; 
and that his holiness can take at once all the souls out 
of it; as Pius V. did, (as they report) who, when he 
was cardinal, was mighty devout, and a great procu- 
rer of the relief of souls, and who had promised them 
with a solemn oath, that if by their prayers in purga- 
tory he should be chosen pope, tlien he would empty 
purgatory of all the souls at once. At last by the in- 
tercession of the souls with God Almighty, he was 
elected pope^ and immediately he delivered all the souls 
out of that place ; but that Jesus Christ was so angry 
with the new pope, that he appeared to him, and told 
him not to do any such thing again, for it was preju- 
dicial to the whole clergy and friarship. That pope 
delivered all the souls out of purgatory, by opening 
the treasure of the church, in which were kept millions 
of masses, which the popes make use of for augment- 



246 A MASTER-KEY 

iiig the riches of the holy see : but he took care not ta 
do it again ; for though, quodcunque solveritis in terra, 
erit^ solutum Sf in codis^ there is not specified the same 
power in purgatory, therefore ever since, the popes 
take no authority, nor liberty to sweep purgatory at 
once, for it would prove their ruin, and reduce the 
clergy to poverty. 

When some ignorant people pay for a mass, and are 
willing to know whether the soul, for which the mass 
is said, is, after the mass, delivered out of purgatory; 
the friar makes them believe that the soul wll appear 
in the figure of a mouse within the tabernacle of the 
altar, if it is not oiit of it, and then it is a sign that 
tliat soul wants more masses ; and if the mouse doth 
not appear, the soul is in heaven. So when the mass 
is over, he goes to the tabernacle backwards^, where is 
a little door with a crystal, and lets the people look 
through it: but, O pitiful thing! they see a mouse, 
which ih^ friars keep, perhaps, for this purpose, and 
so the poor sots give more money for moi^e masses, 
till they see the mouse no more. They liave a reve- 
lation ready at hand, to say, that such a devout per- 
son was told by an angel, that the soul for which the 
mass is said, was to appear in the figure of a mouse 
in the sacrario, or tahernacle. 

Many other priests and friars do positively affirm, 
and we see many instance-s of it forged by them in 
printed books, that when they consecrate the host, the 
little boy Jesus doth appear to them in the host, and 
that that is a sign that the soul is out of purgatory. 
There is a fine picture of St* Anthony de Faula^ with 



TO POPERY. 24r 

tiie host in liis hand, and the little Jesus is in the host, 
because that divine boy frequently appeared to him 
when he said mass, as tlie history of bis life gives an 
account. But at the same time they say, that no lay- 
man can see the boy Jesus, because it is not permit- 
ted to any man but to priests to see so heavenly a siglit: 
£^nd by that means they give out what sort of stories 
they please, without any fear of ever being found out 
IB a lie. 

As to the second day of November, which is the day 
of the souls of purgatory, in which every priest and 
friar sayeth three masses for the delivery of so many 
souls out of tlie pains of it, they generally say, that 
from three o'clock of the first of November (all saint's 
day) till three in the afternoon the next day, all the 
souls are out of purgatory^ and entirely free from the 
}>ains of it; those four and twenty hours being 
granted by his holiness for a refreshment to themj 
and that all that while they are in the air divert- 
ing themselves, and expecting the relief of so many 
masses, to get by them the desired end, viz. The 
celestial habitations. On these twenty-four hours^ 
they ring the bells of all the churches and convents, 
which, as they say, is a great suffrage and help to the 
souls, and on that day only, priests and friars get 
more money than they get in two months time beside ; 
for every family, and private persons too, give yellow 
wax candles to the church, and money for masses and 
responsfif i. e. a prayer for tlie dead; and all these twen- 
ty-four liours the churches are crowded with people, 
and the priests ^lA friars continually singing prayers 



248 A MASl^KR-KEY 

for the (lead^ and tltis they call ^' the priests and friars 
fair-day." Wiiich they solemnize with the continual 
ringing o^the bells, though they give out, that it is a 
suffrage for the souls in purgatory. 

And on the same pretence, there is a man in every 
parish that goes in the dark of the evening through 
all the streets with a bell, praying for the souls, and 
asking charity for them in every house, always ring- 
ing the bell as a suffrage. The duke of Ossuna made 
a witty repartee to pope Innocent XL on this subject. 
The duke was ambassador for the king of Spain at 
Rome, and he had a large bell on the top of his house, 
to gather his domestics w^hen he was going out. Many 
cardinals lived by his palace, and complained to the 
pope, that the ambassador's bell disturbed them ; (for 
the duke used to order to ring the bell when he knew 
the cardinals were at home) and the pope sjjoke imme- 
diately to the duke, and asked his excellency the rea- 
son of keeping so big a bell? to which the duke an- 
swered, that he was a very good christian, and a good 
friend to the souls of purgatory, to whom the ringing 
of the bell was a suffrage. The pope took in good part 
this raillery, and desired him to make use of some 
other signal to call his servants ; for that of the bell 
w^as very noisy, and a great disturbance to the cardi- 
nals, his neighbours : and that if he was so good a 
friend to the souls of purgatory, he would do them 
more service by selling the bell, and giving the money 
for masses. 

To tell the truth, the duke did not care for the 
souls, but aU his design was to vex the cardinals : so 



TO POPERY. 2i9 

the next day he ordered to bring down the bell, and 
to ptit in the same place a cannon, or great piece of 
ordnance, and to give twelve shots every morning, 
and twelve at midnight, which was the time the car- 
dinals were at home. So they made a second com» 
plaint to the pope ; upon this he spoke to the duke 
again, and he answered to his holiness, that the bell 
was to be sold, and the money to be delivered to the 
priests for masses ; but that he had ordered the cannon 
as a siiffrage for the souls of the poor soldiers that had 
died in the defence of the holy see. The pope was v^ry 
much affronted by this answer, and as he was caress-- 
ing a little lap-dog he held in his arms, he got up and 
said, — duke, I take more care of the souls of the poor 
soldiers than you do of your own ; ?it which the duke, 
taking the lap-dog out of the pope's arms and thro^v- 
ing him through the window, said, and 1 take care to 
shew the pope how he ought to speak with the king of 
Spain, to whom more respect is due. Tlien the pope, 
knowing the resoluteness of the duke, 3ind that his ho- 
liness could get nothing by an angry method, chose to 
let the thing drop there, rather than to make more 
noise : so the duke kept his cannon piece, and the 
cai'dinals were obliged to remove their families into a 
more quiet place. 

A mendicant friar one day asked some charity from 
the same duke, for the ^ouls of purgatory, and said, 
my lord, if you put a pistole in this plate, you shall 
take out of purgatory tlmt soul for which you design 
it. The duke gave the pistole, and asked the friar 
whether the soul of his brother was already out of it? 



250 A MASTER-KEY 

And when the friar said, yea; the duke took again his 
pistole, and toid the friar, now you cannot put liis 
$roul into purgatory again. And it is to be wished 
that every one was like that duke, and had the same 
resolution to speak the truth to the pope himself and 
ail his quarter-masters. 

I have toM in the first article of this chapter, that 
every Friday is appointed to say masses for the souls 
in purgatory, which did belong to corporations of fra- 
ternities, and what great profit priests, and especially 
friars, get by it : now, hy this infallible custom and 
practice, we may say, that purgatory contains as ma- 
ny corporations of souls, as tliere are corporations of 
tradesmen here below | which fraternities are more 
profitable to all sorts of communities of friars, than the 
living members of them upon earth. But some of these 
people, either out of pleasantry, or out of curiosity, 
ask sometimes in what part of tlie world, or of the air, 
is that pl^ce of purgatory ? To which the friars an- 
swer, that it is between the centre of the earth and 
this earthly superfices ; which they pretend to prove, 
and make them believe by revelations, and especially 
by a story from a Jesuit father, who in his travels saw 
the earth open by an earthquake, and in the deep a 
great many people of a flaming red colour, from which 
nonsensical account they conclude, to blind the poor 
people, that those were the souls of purgatory red as 
the very flame of fire. But observe, that no priest or 
friar would dare tell such frivolous stories to people 
of good sense, but to the ignorants, of which thci'e are 
great nliinbers in those parts of the world. 




TO FOPEJiY. 251 

When they preach a sermon of the souls, they make 
use of hrimstone, and burn it in the pulpit, saying, 
that such flames are like those of tlie fire in purgatory. 
They make use of many pictures of souls that are in 
the middle of the devouring fire, lifting up their hands 
to heaven, as if they were crying for help and assist- 
ance. Tliey prove tlieir propositions with revelations 
and apparitions, for they cannot find in scripture any 
passage to ground their audacious thoughts on^ and 
such sermons are to people of sense better diversion 
than a comedy ; for besides the wretchedness of style 
and method, tliey tell so many sottish stories, that 
they have enough to laugh at for a long time after- 
wards. 

I went once to hear an old friar, who had the name 
of an excellent preacher, upon the subject of the souls 
in purgatory, and he took his text out of the twenty- 
first chapter of the Apoc. 27th verse. <^And there 
shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, 
neither whatsoever worketh abomination ^'^ by which 
lie settled the belief of a purgatory, proving by some 
romantick authority, that such a passage ought to be 
understood of purgatory, and his chief authority was, 
because a famous interpreter, or expositor, renders 
the text thus : <^ There shall not enter into it (mean- 
ing heaven) any thing which is not proved by the fire, 
as silver is purified by it. When he had proved his 
text, he came to divide it, which he did in these 
three heads : First that the souls suffer in purgatory 
three sorts of torments, of wiiich the first was fire, 
tind that greater than the fire of heJl. Secondly, toJbe 



^52 A MASTER-KEY 

deprived of the face of God : and thirdly, which was*^ 
the greatest of all torments, to see their relations and 
friends here on earth diverting themselves, and taking 
so little care to relieve them out of those terrible pains. 
The preacher spoke very little of the two first points, 
but he insisted upon the third a long hour, taxing the 
people of ingratitude and inhumanity ; and that if it 
were possible for any of the living to experience, only 
for a moment, that devouring flame of purgatory, cer- 
tainly he would come again, and sell whatever he had 
in the world, and give it for masses : and what pity 
it is, said lie, to know that there are the souls of 
many of my hearers* relations there, and none of them 
endeavour to relieve them out of that place : he went 
on, and said : I have a catalogue of the souls, w^hich, 
Uy revelation and apparition, we are sure are in pur- 
gatory ; for in the first place, the soul of such a one 
(naming the soul of a rich merchant's father) did ap- 
pear the other night to a godly person, in the figure of 
a pig, and the devout person, knowing that the door 
of his chamber was locked up, began to sprinkle the 
pig with holy water, and conjuring him, bade him 
speak, and tell him what he wanted ? And that the pig 
said, I am the soul of such an one, and I have been 
in purgatory these ten years for want of help. AVhen 
I left the world, I forgot to tell my confessor where I 
left 1000 pistoles, which I had reserved for masses : 
my son found them out, and he is such an unnatural 
child, that he doth not remember my pitiful condition ; 
and now by the permission of heaven I come to you, 
and command you to discover this case to the first 



TO POPERY. 253 

preacher you meet; that lie may publish it, and tell 
my son, that if he does not give that money for mass- 
es fgr my relief, I shall be forever in purgatory, and 
his soul shall certainly go to helL 

The sottish merchant, terrified with this story, be- 
lieving every tittle of it, got up befpre all the people, 
and went into the vestry, and when the friar had fin- 
ished, he begged of him to go along with him to his 
house, where he should receive tlie money, which he 
did accordingly, for fear of a second thought; and the 
merchant gave freely the 1000 pistoles, for fear that 
his father's soul should be kept in purgatory, and he 
himself go to hell. 

And besides tlicsc cheats and tricks they make use 
of themselves to exact money, they have their solici- 
tors and agents that go from one house to another^ 
telling stories of apparitions and revelations, and these 
are they which we call beatas and devotas; for as 
tlieir modesty in apparel, their hypocritical air, and 
daily exercises of confessing and receiving is well 
known in the world, the common people have so good 
an opinion of them, that they believe, as an article of 
faith, whatever stories they tell, without farther inqui- 
ry into the matter : so those cunning disguised devils, 
or worse, instructed by tlie friar tlieir confessor, go and 
spread abroad many of these apparitions, by which 
they get a great deal of money for masses, which they 
give to the father confessor. 

Nay, of late, the old nuns, those that, to their grief, 
tlie world despises, having undertaken the trade of 
publishing revelations and apparitions of souls in pur- 

Y 



254 A MAS TERKEY 

gatory, and give out that such a soul is, and shall be 
in it, till the father, mother, or sister, go to such a fri- 
ar, and give him so many masses, which he is to say 
himself and no otiier. Andjthe case is, that by agree- 
ment betvveenlhe old skeleton and the covetous father* 
lie is to give her one third of all the masses that he 
receives by her means and application. So you see 
the nature of this place of purgatory, the apartments 
in it, the degrees of the fire of it, the means the priests 
and friars make use of to keep in repair that profita- 
1)le palace ; and above all, the stupidity, sottishness, 
and blindness of the people to believe sucii dreams as 
matters of fact. What now can the Roman catholics 
say for themselves ? I am very much afraid that they 
will say that I am a deceiver and impostor. Some of 
the Jews said of our Saviour, that he was a good man; 
others said, nay, but he deceiveth the people, when he 
was telling the truth. So I shall not be surprised at 
any calumny nor injury dispersed by them; for I am 
sure in my conscience, before God and the world, that 
I write the truth. And let nobody mind the method 
in tliis account, for now I look upon the practices and 
cheats of the priests and friars in this point of purga- 
tory, as the most ridiculous, nonsensical, and roguish 
of all their tricks; so how can a man that has been 
among them, and now is in the right way, write mo- 
derately, and without ridiculing them ? 

I must dismiss this article with my address to the 
papist priests of Eiiglaud and Ireland. Some of them 
(immediately afier my book was publislied and read by 
theHi) commanded their parisluoners in tlieir respec- 



TOrOPEllY. 255 

tive mass-houses, (as I was told by a faithful friend) 
not to read my book, sub jmna excommunicationis. 
Others made frivolous remarks on some of my obser- 
vations and matters of fact; nay, a zealous protestant 
having lent one of my books to a Roman catholic lady, 
she gave it to her priest, and desired his opinion about 
it. The priest read it over, and corrected only five 
passages with his hand in the same book, of which I 
shall speak in my second part. Above all, this article 
of purgatory is the hardest thing to them : but they 
ought to consider, that I speak only of my country 
people, and if they complain, I must crave leave to say, 
that hy that they make us believe, that the Spanish 
contagion has reached to them, and want the same 
remedy with the Spaniards; namely a narrow search- 
ing into the matter, &c. 



PART IV. 

Of the InqidsitorSf and their practices* 

In the time of king Ferdinand the fifth, and queen 
Isabella, the mixture of Jews, Moors, and Christians 
M^as so great, the relapses of the new converts so fre- 
quent, and the corruptions in matters of religion so 
barefaced in all sorts and conditions of people, that the 
cardinal of Spain, thought that the introducing the in- 
quisition could be the only way of stopping the course 
of wickedness and vice; so, as the sole remedy to cure 
the irreligious practices of those times, the inquisition 



256 A MASTER-KEY 

was established in the year 1471, in the court, and 
many other dominions of Spain. 

The cardinal's design in giving birth to this tribu- 
nal, was only to suppress heresies, and chastise many 
horrible crimes committed against religion, viz. blas- 
phemy, sodomy, polygamy, sorcery, sacrilege, and 
many others, which are also punished in these king- 
doms by the prerogative court, but not by making use 
of so barbarous means as the inquisition doth. Tiie 
design of the cardinal was not blameablc, being in it- 
self good, and approved by all the serious and devout 
people of that time; but the performance of it was not 
so, as will appear by and by. 

1 can only speak of the inquisition of Zaragossa, for 
as I am treating of matters of fact, I may tell with con - 
ftdence what I know of it, as an eye-witness of several 
things done there. This tribunal is composed of three 
inquisitors, who are absolute judges ; for, from their 
judgment there is no appeal, not even to the pope iiini- 
self, nor to a general council; as appears from what 
happened in the time of king Philip I[. when the in- 
quisitors having censured the cardinal of Toledo, the 
pope sent for the process and sentence, but the inqui- 
sitors did not obey him, and though the council of 
Trent discharged the cardinal, notwithstanding, they 
insisted on the performance and execution of their 
sentence. 

The first inquisitor is a divine, the second a casuist, 
and the third, a civilian ; the first and second are al- 
ways priests, and promoted from prebends to the high 
dignity of being holy inquisitors. The third sometimes 



TO POPERY. 2B7 

is not a priest, though he is dressed in a clerical ha- 
bit. The three inquisitors of my time were, iBrst, Don 
Pedro fiuerrei'o. Second, Don Francisco Torrejon. 
Third, Don Antonio Aliaga. This tribunal hath a 
high sheriff, and God knows how many constables and 
under officers, besides the officers that belong to the 
house, and ihat live in it^ they have likewise an exe- 
cutioner; or we may say, there are as many executi- 
oners as officers and judges, &c. besides these, there 
are many qualificators and familiares, of which I shall 
give an account by themselves. 

Tlie inquisitors have a despotic i)ower to command 
every living soul ; and n :> excuse is to be given, nor 
contradiction to be made, to their orders; nay, the 
people have not liberty to speak, nor complain in their 
misfortunes, and therefore thei^ is a proverb which 
says, Con la inquisition Chiton: Do not meddle with 
the inquisition; or, as to the inquisition, say nothing. 
Tiiis will be better undei'stood by the following ac- 
count of the method they make use of for the taking 
up and arresting the people; which is thus : 

When the inquisitors receive an information against 
any body, which is always in private, and with such 
secresy that none can know who the informer is, (for 
all the informations are given in at night) they send 
their officers to the hous^ of the accused, most com- 
monly at midnight, and in a coach : they knock at 
the door, (and then all the family is in bed) and when 
somebody asks from the windows, who is there ? the 
offi^cers say, the holy inquisition. At this word, ke that 



258 A MASTER-KEY 

answered, without any delay or noise, or even the li- 
berty of giving timely notice to the master of the house, 
comes down to open the door. I say, without the li- 
berty of giving timely notice ; for when the inquisitors 
send the oiRcers, they are sure, by the spies, that the 
jierson is within, and if they do not find the accused, 
tliey take up the whole family, and carry them to the 
inquisition : so the answerer is with good reason afraid 
of making any delay in opening the street door. Then 
they go up stairs and arrest the accused without tell- 
ing a word, or liearing a word from any of the fami- 
ly, and with great silence putting him into the coach, 
they drive to the holy prison. If the neighbours by 
chance hear the noise of the coach, they dare not go 
to the windoAv, for it is well known, that no other 
coach but that of tlie inquisition is a!)road at that time 
of tlie ]iiglit; nay, tliey are so much afraid, that they 
dare not even ask their neighbours the next morning, 
any thing ahout it, for those tliat talk of any thing 
that the inquisition does, are liable to the same pun- 
ishment, and this may be the night following. So if 
the accused be the daughter, son, or'father, &c» and 
some friends or relations go in the morning to see 
that family, and ask the occasion of their tears and 
grief, they answer that their daughter was stolen 
away the night before, or that the son, or father or 
mother (whoever the prisoner be) did not come home 
the niglit before, and that tiiey suspect he was mur- 
dered, 6lc. This answer they give, because they can-, 
jiot tell the truth, without ex()osing themselves to the 
'^ame misfortune j and not only this, but they cannot 



TO POrEKY. 259 

go to the inquisition to inquire for the prisoner, fop 
they woiil 1 be confined for 4 hat alone. So all the com- 
fort the family can have in such a case, is to imagine 
that tfie prisoner is in China, or in the remotest part 
of the world, or in hell, wherein J\*uUns or do sed se?n- 
piternus horror hihabitat. Hiis is the reason why no- 
body knows the persons that are in the inquisition till 
the sentence is published and executed, except those 
priests and friars summoned to hear the trial. 

The qualificators and familiares which are in the 
city and country, upon necessity, have full power to 
secure any person suspected with the sam« secresy, 
and commit him to the nearestcommissary of the holy 
office of the inquisition, and he is to take care to send 
him safely to the prison ; which is all done by night,^ 
and without any fear tliat the people should deliver 
the prisoner, nay, or even talk of it. 

^iialificators 

Are those that, by an order from the inquisitors, ex- 
amine the crimes committed by the prisoners again&t 
the catholic faith, and give their opinions or censures 
about it : they are obliged to secresy, as w-ell as other 
people ; but as the number of them is great, the inqui- 
sitors most commonly make use often or twelve of the 
most learned that are in the city, in difficult cases ; 
but this is only a formality, for their opinions and 
censures are not regarded, the inquisitors themselves 
being the absolute decisive judges. The distinguish- 
ing mark of a qualificator is the cross of the holy office, 
which is a medal of pure gold as big as a thirteen, with 



2G0 A MASTER-KEY 

a cross in the middle, lialf white and half black, which 
they wear before their breasts ; but in public functions 
or processions, the priests and friars w^ear another 
larger cross of embroidery on their cloaks or habits. 
To be qualificator is a great honor to his whole family 
and relations, for this is a public testimony of the old 
Christianity, and pure blood, as they call it, of the fa- 
mily. 

No nobleman covets the honor of being a qualifica- 
tor, for they are all ambitious of the cross of St. 
James, of Alcantara, of Calatrava, of Malta, and the 
golden Fleece, which are the five orders of the nobi- 
lity ; so the honor of a qualificator is for thovse |ieople, 
who though their families being not well known, are 
desirous of boasting of their antiquity and christian- 
ism, though to obtain such honour they pay a great 
sum of money : for, in the first place, he that desireth 
to be a qualificator, is to appear before the holy tribu- 
nal, to make a public profession of the catholic faith, 
and to acknowledge the holy tribunal for the supreme 
of all others, and the inquisitors for his own judges. 
This is the first step : after, he is to lay down on the 
table the certificate of his baptism, and the names of 
his parents for four generations ; the towns and places 
of their former habitations ; and two hundred pistoles 
for the expences in taking informations. 

This done, he goes home till the inquisitors send for 
him, and if they do not send for him in six months 
time he loses the money, and all hopes of ever getting 
the cross of qualificator ; and this happens very often 
for the reasons I shall give by and by. 



TO POPERY. 261 

The inquisitors send their commissaries into all the 
jilaces of the new proponant's ancestors, where they 
may get some account of their lives and conversations, 
and of the purity of their blood; and that they never 
were mixed with Jewish families, nor heretics, and 
that they were old christians. These examinations are 
performed in the most rigorous and severe manner 
that can be; for if some of the informers and wit- 
nesses arc in a falsity, they are put into the inquisi- 
tion ; so every body gives the report concerning the 
fiimily in question with great caution, to the best of 
his knowledge and inernory. When the commissaries 
have taken the necessary informations w'ith witnesses 
of a good name^ tJiey examine the parish book, and 
take a copy of the ancestors' names, the year and day 
of their marriages, and the year, day and place of their 
burials. The commissaries then return to the inqui- 
sitors with all the examinations, witnesses, proofs and 
convictions of the purity and ancient cliristianity of 
the proponant's families, for four generations ; and 
being again examined by the three inquisitors, if they 
find them real and faithful, then they send the same 
commissaries to inquire into the character, life, and 
conversation of the postulant, or demanding person, 
but in this point the commissaries pass by many per- 
sonal failings, so when the report is given to the holy 
inquisitors, they send for the postulant, and examine 
him concerning the matters of faith, the holy scrip- 
tures, the knowledge of the ancient fathers of the 
church, moral cases, all which is but mere formality, 
for the generality of the holy fathers themselves do not 



26% A MASTER-KEY 

take much pains in the study of those things, and 
therefore the postulant is not afraid of their nice ques- 
tions, nor very solicitous how to resolve them. 

When the examination is over, they order the se- 
cretary to draw the patent of the grant of the holy 
cross to such an one, in regard to his family's old pu- 
rity of blood and Christianity, and to his personal parts 
and religious conversation, certifying in the patent, 
that for four generations past, none of his father's or 
mother's relations were at all suspected in points con- 
cerning the holy catholick Roman faith, or mixed with 
Jewish or heritical blood. 

The day following, the postulant appears before tlie 
assembly of qualificators in the hall of the inquisition, 
and the first inquisitor celebrates the mass assisted by 
two qualificators, as deacon and subdeacon. One of 
the oldest brethren preacheth a sermon on that occa- 
sion, and when the mass is over, they make a sort of 
procession in the same hall, and after it, the inquisitor 
gives the book of the gospel to the postulant, and 
makes him swear the usual oaths; wiiich done, the 
postulant on his knees receiveth the cross, or medal, 
from the hands of the inquisitors, who, with a black 
ribbon, puts it on the postulant's neck, and begins to 
sing te Benmj and the collect of thanks, which is the 
end of the ceremonies. Then all the assistant quali- 
ficators congratulate the new brother, and all go up 
to the inquisitor's apartment to drink chocolate, and 
after that every one to his own dwelling place. 

The new qualificators dine with the inquisitors that 
day, and after dinner the secretary brings in a bill of 



TO IHJPERY. 263 

all the fees and expencesof the informations ; which he 
feiust clear before he leaves the inquisition. Most 
commonly the whole comes to four hundred pistoles, 
including the two hundred he gave in the beginning; 
but sometimes it comes to a thousand pistoles, to those 
Avhose ancestors' families were out of the kingdom, for 
then the commissaries expend a great deal more: and 
if it happen they find the least spot of Judaism or 
heresy, in some relation of the family, the commissa- 
ries do not proceed any further in the examinations, 
but come back again to the inquisition immediately, 
and then the postulant is never sent for by the inqui- 
sitors, who keep the two hundred pistoles for pious 
uses. 

Familiares 

Are always lay-men, but of good sense and educa- 
tion. These wear the same cross, and for the granting 
of it, the inquisitor make the same information and 
proofs as they make for qualificators. The honor and 
privileges are the same ; for they are not subject but 
to the tribunal of the inquisition. Their business 
is not the same ; for they are only employed in gath- 
ering together, and inquiring after all books against 
the catholic faith, and to watch the actions of sus- 
pected people. They take a turn sometimes into the 
country, but then they do not wear their cross open- 
ly till occasion requires it. They insinuate them- 
selves into all companies, and they will even speak 
against the inquisition and against religion, to try whe- 
ther the people are of that sentiment ; in short, they 



S64 A MASTER-KEY 

are spies of inquisitors. They do not pay so much as 
the qualificators, for the honor of the cross, but they 
are obliged to take a turn now and then in the country, 
at tiieir own expense. They are not so many in num- 
ber as the qualificators, for in a trial of the inquisition, 
where all ought to be present, I did reckon once one 
hundred and sixty, and twice as many quaJificators. I 
saw the list of both ; i. e» of the whole kingdom of Ar- 
ragon, wherein are quaJificators, of the secular priests 
243, and of the regular, 406, familiares, 208. 

The royal castle, formerly the palace of the king of 
Arragon, called Aljaferia, was given to tlie inquisitors 
to hold their tribunal tliere, and prison too. The best 
apartments were for the three inquisitors and their fa- 
milies, the rest for the sheriff and subaltern officers. 
It is a musket shot distant from the city on the river 
side. But after the battle of Almanza, when the duke 
of Orleans came as generalissimo of the Spanish and 
French army, he thouglit that place necessary to put 
a strong garrison in ; so he made the marquis de Toiv 
sy, governor of the fort of Aljaferia, and turned oiit 
the inquisitors, who being obliged, by force, to quit 
tlieir apartments, they took a large house near the 
Carmelites^ convent ; but two months after, finding 
that the place was not safe enough to keep the prison- 
ers in, tiiey removed to the palace of the earl of Tu- 
entes, in the great street called Coso, out of wliich 
they were turned by Monsieur dc Legal, as I shall tell 
by and by. 4 



TO POPERY. 265 

AJorm of their public triah 

If a trial is to be made pablicly in the hall of the 
koly office, the inquisitors summon two priests out of 
every parish church, and two regular priests out of 
every convent: all the qualificators and familiares that 
are in the city : the sheriff and all the under officers : 
the secretary, and the tliree inquisitors : all the afore- 
said meet at the common hall on the day appointed for 
the trial, at ten in the morning. The hall is hung ia 
black, witliout any windows, or light, but what comes- 
in through the door. At the front there is an image 
of our Saviour on the cross, under a black velvet ca- 
nopy, and six candlesticks with six yellow^ wax can« 
dies on the altar's table : on one side there is a pulpit, 
with another candle where the secretary reads the 
crimes ; three chairs for the three inquisitors, and 
round about the hall, seats and cliairs for the summon- 
ed priests, friars, familiares, and other officers. 

When the inquisitors are come in, an under officex^ 
crieth out, ^' Silence, silence, silence; the holy fathers 
are coming," and from that very time, till ail is over, 
nobody speaks, nay, nor spits, and the thought of the 
place puts every body under respect, fear, and atten- 
tion. The holy fathers, with their hats on their heads, 
and serious countena>ices, go, and kneeling down be- 
fore the altar, the first inquisitor begins to give out, 
Veni Creator Spiritus^ mentes hioriim visiia^ &c. And 
tlie congregation sing the rest, and the collect being 
said by him also, every body sits down. Tlie secreta- 
ry tiicn goes up to the pulpit, and the holy father rings 

Z 



266 A MASTER-KEY 

a small silver bell, which is the signal for bringing in 
the criminal. What is done afterwards will be known 
by the following trials and instances, at which I was 
present, being one of the youngest priests of the ca- 
thedral, and therefore obliged to go to tliese dismal 
tragedies; in whicli, the first thing after the crimi- 
nal comes in, and kneels down before tiie inquisitors, 
lie receives a severe, bitter correction from the first 
inquisitor, who measures it according to the nature of 
the crimes committed by the criminal; of all which, 
to the best of my memory, I will give an account in 
the first iriaL 

TRIAL I. 

Of the reverend father, Joseph Sylvestre, Francis- 
can friar ; and the mother Mary of Jesus, abbess of 
the monastery of Epila, of Franciscan nuns. Father 
Joseph was a tall, lusty man, 40 years of age, and had 
been i 2 years professor of philosophy and divinity in 
the great convent of St. Francis. ^ Sor Mary was 32 
years old, very witty, and of an agreeable counte- 
nance. These two criminals were dressed in brown 
gowns, painted all over witii flames of fire, represent- 
ing hell, a thick rope tied about their necks, and yel- 
low wax candles in their hands. Both, in this dull 
appearance, came and prostrated themselves at tiie in- 
quisitors' feet, and the first holy father began to cor- 
rect them in tht3 following words : 

■ ■ ' " ■ — ' " — — — i^ -jfr 

^ Sor is a title given to the nuns, which answers to sister^ 
as coming from the Latin sor or. 



TO POPERY. 267 

Unworthy creatures, how can our Roniau catholic 
faith be preserved pure, if those who, by their office 
and ministry, ought to recommend its observance in 
the most earnest manner, are not only the first but 
greatest transgressors of it? Thou that teachest ano- 
ther not to steal, nor commit fornication, dost thoii 
steaU awd commit sacrilege which is worse than for- 
nication ? In these things we could shew you pity and 
compassion j but as to the transgressions of the ex- 
press commandments of our church, and the respect 
due to us the judges of the holy tribunal, we cannot ; 
therefore your sentence is pronounced by these holy 
fathers of pity and compassion, lords inquisitors, as 
you shall hear now, and afterwards undergo. 

Sor Mary was in a flood of tears, but father Joseph, 
wlio was a l€>«Pted man, with great boldness and as- 
surance, said, '' What, do you call yourselves holy fa- 
thers of pity and compassion? 1 say unto you, that 
you are three devils on earth, fatliers of all manner of 
mischief, barbarity and lewdness.'^ No inquisitors 
were ever treated at such a rate before, and vve were 
thinking that father Joseph was to suffer fire for this 
high affront to them. But Don Pedro Guerrero, first 
judge, though a severe, haughty, p:issionate man, or- 
dered only a gag, or bit of a bridle to be put into his 
mouth, but friar Joseph flying into a fury, said, «^ I 
despise all your torments, for my crimes are not 
against you, but against God, who is the only judge 
of my conscience, and you do yet worse things.^' 

The inquisitors ordered to carry him t^ prison, while 
tlie crimes and sentence were reading. So he was car* 



268 A MASTER-KEY 

Hed in, and the nun with great Jiumility heard the 
accusation and sentence. 

Tiie secretary, by order, begun to read iirst, That 
friar Joseph was made father confessor and Sor Ma- 
ry motfier abbess. That in the beginning they shew- 
ed a g^eat example of humility and virtue to the nun^ 
but afterwards, all this zeal of theirs appeared to be 
mere hypocrisy, and a cover for their wicked actions; 
for as she had a grate in the w all of friar Joseplr s 
room, they both did eat in private, and fast in public: 
that the said friar Joseph was found in bed with Sor 
Mary by such a nun, and that she was found with 
child, and took a remedy to prevent the piibiic proof 
of it. That both friar Joseph and Sor Mdvy had rob- 
bed the treasure of the convent, and that one day tliey 
\vere contriving how to go away into anofhiu* country, 
and that they had spoken in an irreverent manner of 
the p >pc and inquisitors. 

This was the wliole accusation against them, which 
friar Joseph and Sor Mary had denied before, saying, 
it was only hatred and malice of tlie informers against 
them, and desired the witnesses to be produced before 
them ; but this being against tlje custom of the holy 
office, the holy fathers had pronounced the sentence; 
viz. That friar Joseph should be deprived of all the 
honors of his order, and of active and passive voice, 
and be removed to a country convent, and be whipped 
three times a week, for the space of six weeks. That 
Sor Mary should be deprived of her abbacy, and re- 
moved into another monastery : this punishment being 
only for their audacious and disrespectful manner of 
talking against the pope and inquisitors. 



TO rOPERY. 269 

IrideeiU by this sentence we believed^ that the Crimea 
they were cliarged with, were only an invention of the 
malicious nuns ; but p^ior friar Joseph siriFcred for his 
indiscretion, for though the next day, the inquisitors 
gave out that he escaped out of the prison, we really 
believed he had been strangled in the inquisition. 

This was the first trial 1 was present at, and the se- 
cond was that of Mary Guerrero and friar Michael 
Navarro, of which I have given an account in the chap- 
ter of Auricular confession. After tliese two trials, the 
inquisitors were turned out l>y Monsieur de Legal, 
and for eight months we had no inquisition. How this 
thing happened, is worthy of observation, th-'^reforc I 
shall give a particrdar account of it, that I may not 
deprive tiie public of so plea*iant a sto!T» 

In 1705, after the battle of Aliuanza, the Spanish 
army being divided in two bodies, one of them through 
the. kingdom of Valencia, to the frontiers of Cata- 
lonia, commanded by the duke of Berwick, and the 
other composed of the French auxiliary troops, li,000 
in number, went to the conquest of Arragon, wdit>se 
inhabitants had declared f )i' idng Charles the 3d. 
The body of French troops was commanded by his 
highness the duke of Orleans, wlio was the general- 
issimo of tlie wh :de army. Before he came Hear the 
city, the magistrates went to meet him, and offered the 
keys of the city, but he refused tliem, saying, he was 
to enter through a breach; and so he did, treating the 
people as rebels to their lawful king. And wdien he 
had ordered all the civil and military affairs of the 

city, life went down to the frontiers of Catalonia, leav* 

z2 



270 A MASTER-KEY 

ing his lieutenant general Monsieur de Jofreville gov- 
ernor of tiie town. But this governor being a mild 
tempered man, he was loth to follow the orders left 
with him, as to the contrihution money : so he was 
called to the army, and the lieutenant general Mon- 
sieur de Legal came in his place. The city was to pay 
1000 crowns a month, for the duke's table, and every 
house a pistole-, which by computation made up the sum 
of IS, 000 pistoles a month, wliich were paid eight 
months together, besides tiiis, the convents w^ere to 
pay a donative, or gift proportionable to their rents. 
The college of Jesuits were charged 2000 pistoles; 
the Dominicans 1000, Augustins 1000, Carmelites 
1000, &c. Monsieur de Legal sent first to the Jesuits, 
who refused to pay, saying that it was against the ec- 
clesiastical immunity : but Legal, not acquainted with 
those sort of excuses, did send four companies of gre- 
Fikdicrs to quarter in their college at discretion : the 
father sent immediately an express to the king*'s father 
confessor, wlio was a Jesuit, with complaints about the 
case : but tlie grenadiers made more expedition in their 
plundering and mischiefs, tlian tlie courier did in his 
jouiney. So the fathers seeing the damage all their 
goods had already received, and fearing some violence 
upon their treasure, w^ent to pay Monsieur Legal the 
2000 pistoles as a donative. 

Next to this he sent to the Dominicans. The friars 
of this order are all familiares of tlie holy ofHce, and 
depending upon it, they did excuse themselves in a ci- 
vil manner, saying, they had no money, and if Mon- 
sieur de Legal, had a mind to insist upon the demand 



TO POPERY. 271 

of the 1000 pistoles they could not pay them, without 
sending to him the silver hodies of the saints. Tlie fri- 
ars thought by this to frighten Monsieur de Legal, and 
if he was so resolute as to accept the offer, to send the 
saints in a procession, and raise tlie people, crying out 
heresy^ heresy. De Legal answered to the friars, that 
he was obliged to obey the duke's orders, and so he 
would receive the silver saints : so the friars all in a 
solemn procession, and with lighted candles in their 
hands, carried the saints to the governor Legal : and 
as soon as he heard of this public devotion of the fri- 
ars, he ordered immediately four companies of grena- 
diers to ]in^ the streets on both sides, bcfc^re his liouse,^ 
and to keep their fuzees in one hand, and a lighted can- 
dle in the other, to receive the saints with the same' 
devotion and veneration. And though tlie friars en« 
deavoured to raise the people, nobody was so bold as 
to expose thenis Ives to the army, there being eight 
regiments left to keep tlie mob under fear and subjec- 
tion. Legal received the saints, and sent them to the 
mint, promising the fatlicr prior to give him what re- 
mained above the 1000 pistoles. The friars being dis- 
appointed in their project of raising the people, WTnt 
to tliG inquisitors to desire them to release immediately 
their saints from the mint, by excommunicating Mon- 
sieur de Legiil, which the inquisitors did upon the spot; 
and the excommunication being drawn and signed, 
they gave strict orders to their secretary to go and 
read it before Monsieur de Legal, which he did accord- 
ingly : and Monsieur t!:e governor, far from flying 
into a passion, with a mild countenance took the gaper 



27^2 ^ A M-iSTER-KEY 

from the secretary, aiid vSaid ; pray tell your masters^ 
tbe inquisitors, ihi\t I will answer them to-morrow 
morning. The secretary w^ni a\vay fully satisfied 
with Legal's civil behaviour. / '^ same minute, as if 
he was inspired by the holy spirit, \vithout reflecting 
upon any consequence, he calh^d his ow-n secretary, 
and bid him drav^ acopy of the excomnmnication, put- 
ting out the Hame of Legal, and inserting in its place, 
the holy inquisitors. The next morning he gave or- 
ders for four regiments to be ready, and sent them 
along with his secretary to the inquisition, Avith com- 
mand to read the excommunication to the inquisitors 
themselves, and if they made the least noise, to turn 
them out, open all the prisons, and quarter tw^o regi- 
ments there. He was not afraid of tise people, for the 
duke took all the arms from every individual pers^on^ 
And, on pain of death commanded that nobody should 
keep but a short sword ; and besides, four regiments 
were under arms, to prevent all sort of tumults and 
disturbance : so his secretary went and performed the 
governor's orders. The inquisitors were never more 
surprised than to see themselves excommunicated by 
a man that had no authority for it, and resenting it;, 
tliey began to cry out, war against the heretick de 
Legal ; this is a public insult against our catholic faith. 
To which the secretary answered, holy inquisitors, 
the king wants tins house to quarter liis troops in, so 
walk out immediately : and as they continued in their 
exdama.tions, he took the inquisitors with a strong 
guard, and carried them to a private house destined 
for them: but v/hcn they saw the laws of military dis- 



TO POPERY. r^Z 

cipline, they begged Itmve to take their goods along 
with them, which was immediately granted ; and the 
next day they set out for Madrid, to complain to the 
king \ who gave them this slight answer : " I arn very 
sorry for it, but I cannot help it ; my crown is in dan- 
ger, and my grandfather defends it, and this is done 
by his troops ; if it had been done by my troops, I 
should apply a speedy remedy : but you must have pa- 
tience till things take another turn.*' So the inquisitors 
were obliged to have patience for eight montlis. 

The secretary of Monsieur de Legal, according to 
liis orders, opened the doors of all tlie prisons, and 
then tlie wickedness of the inquisitors was detected, 
for four hundred prisoners got liberty tiiat day, and 
among them sixty young w^omen were found very well 
dressed, who were in all human appearance, the num- 
ber of the three inquisitors' seraglio, as some of them 
didow^n afterwards. But this discovery, so dangerous 
to the holy tribunal, was in some measure prevented, 
by the archbishop, who went to desire Monsieur de 
Legal to send those w^omen to his palace, and that his 
grace would take care of them j and tiiat in the mean 
time, he ordered an ecclesiastical censure to be pub- 
lished against those that should de^me, by groundless 
reports, the holy office of the inquisition. The gov- 
ej^nor answered to his grace, he would give him all the 
assistance he could, but as to the young women it was 
not in his power, the officers having hurried them 
away; and indeed it was not; for as it is not to be 
supposed that the inquisitors, having the absolute 
power to confine in their seraglio whomsoever they 



5ir4 A MASTEli-KET 

had a fancy foiv would choose ordinary girls, but the 
best and handsomest of the city : so the French offi- 
Gers were all so glad of getting such fine mistresses, 
that tjicy immediately took them away, knowing very 
well they would follow them to the end of the world, 
for fear of being confined again. In my travels in 
France afterwards, I met with one of those women at 
Ilochtfort, in the same inn I went to lodge in that 
night, wfio had been brought there by the son of the 
master of the inn, formerly lieutenant in the French 
service in Spain, who had married her for her extra- 
ordinary beauty and good parts. She was the daugh- 
ter of counsellor Balabriga, and I knew^ her before she 
was taken up by tlie inquisitors' orders ^ but we 
tliought she was stolen by some officer ; for this was 
given out by her father, who died of grief and vexa- 
tion, without the comfort of opening his trouble, nay, 
even to his confessor ; so great is the fear of the inqui- 
sitors there. 

I was very glad to meet one of my countrywomen 
in my travels, and as she did not remember me, and 
especially in my then disguise, I was taken for no- 
thing but an officer. I resolved to stay there the next 
day, to have the satisfaction of conversing w^ith her, 
and have a plain account of what we could not know 
in Zaragossa, for fear of incurring the ecclesiastical 
censure of the archbishop. Now my conversation 
with her being aprop<>s, and necessary to discover the 
roguery of the inquisitors, it seems proper to divert 
the reader with it. 



fl POPERY- 275 

Mr. Faulcaut, my countrywoman's liusbaHd, was 
iben at Paris, upon some pretensions, and though I '^.f 
father and mother-in-law were continually at home^? 
they did not mistrust me, I being a countryman of 
th ir daughter-in-law, who freely came to my room 
at any time, and as I was desiring her not to expose 
herself to any uneasiness on my account ; she answer- 
ed me, captain, we are now in France, not in Zaragos- 
sa, and we enjoy here all manner of freedom without 
e;oing beyond the limits of sobriety ; so you may be 
easy on that point, for my father and motlier-in-law 
have ordered me to be obliging to you, nay, and to beg 
the favour of you to take your repose here this week, 
if your business permit it, and to be pleased to accept 
this their small entertainment on free cost, as a token 
of their esteem to me, and my country-gentleman. 
If it had not been for my continual fear of being dis- 
covered, I would have accepted the proposition ; so I 
thanked her, and begged her to return my hearty ac- 
knowledgment to the gentleman and lady of the house, 
and that I was very sorry, that my pressing business 
at Paris, would prevent and hinder me to enjoy so 
agreeable company : but if my business was soon Ae&» 
patched at Paris, then, at my return, I would make a 
halt there, may-be for a fortnight. Mrs. Faulcaut was 
very much concerned at my haste to go away : but 
she made me promise to come back again that way. 
So amidst these compliments from one to another, 
supper came in, and we went to it, the old man and 
w^oman, their daughter and I ; none but Mrs. Faulcaut 
could speak Spanish, so she was my interpreter, for I 



^76 A MASTER-KEY 

could not speak French. After supper, the landlord 
and landlady left us alone, and I began to beg of her 
the favour to tell me the accident of her prison, of her 
sufferings in the inquisition, and of every thing relat- 
ing to the holy office, and fear not, said I, for we are 
in France, and not in Zaragossa ; here is no inquisi- 
tion, so you may safely open your heart to a country- 
man of yours. I w ill, with all my heart, said she, and 
to satisfy your curiosity, I shall begin with the occa- 
sion of my imprisonment, which was as follows : 

I went one day with my mother to visit the count- 
ess of Attarass, and I met there Don Francisco Tor- 
rejon, her confessor, and second inquisitor of the ho- 
ly office : after we had drank chocolate, he asked me 
my age, and my confessor's name, and so many intri- 
cate questions about religion, that I could not answer 
him : his serious countenance frightened me, and as 
he perceived my fear, he desired the countess to tell 
me, that he was not so severe as I took him to be ; af- 
ter which he'caressed me in the most obliging manner 
in the world ; he gave me his hand, which I kissed 
with great respect and modesty, and when he went 
away he told me, my dear child I shall remember you 
till the next time. I did not mind the sense of the 
words; for I wos inexperienced in matters of gallant- 
ry, being only fifteen years old at tliat time. Indeed 
he dill remetuber me, for the very night following, 
when we were in bed, hearing a hard knocking at the 
door, the maid that lay in the same room where my 
bed was, went to tlie window, and asking who is ther- ' 
I heard say, the holy inquisitiorie I could not fc 



TO POPERY. 277 

Dear crying out, father, father, I am ruined for ever. 
My dear father got up, and inquiring what the matter 
was, I answered him, with tears, tlie inquisition; and 
he, for fear that the maid should not open the door as 
quick as such a case required, went liimself, as ano- 
ther Abraham, to open the door, and to offer his dear 
daughter to the fire of the inquisitors, and as I did not 
cease to cry out, as if I was a mad girl, my dear fa- 
ther, all in tears, put in my mouth a bit of a bridle, to 
shew his obedience to the holy office, and his zeal for 
the catholic faith, for he thought I had committed 
some crime against religion ; so the officers giving 
me but time to put on my petticoat and a mantle^ 
took me down into the coach, and without giving 
me the satisfaction of embracing my dear father and 
mother, they carried me into the inquisition : I expect- 
ed to die that very night; but when they carried me 
into a noble room, well furnished, and an excellent bed 
in it, I was quite surprised. The officers left me there, 
and immediately a maid came in with a salver of sweet- 
meats and cinnamon- water, desiring me to take some 
refreshment before I went to bed : I told her I could 
not ; but that I should be obliged to her, if she could 
teJl m^ whether I was to die that night or not ? Die, 
«aid she, you do not come here to die, but to live like 
a princess, and you shall want nothing in the world, 
but the liberty of going out ; and now pray mind no- 
thing, but to go to bed^ and sleep easy, for to-morrow 
you shall see wonders in this house, and as I am cho- 
sen to be your waiting-maid, I hope you will be very 

A a 



278 A MASTER-KEY 

kind to me. I was going to ask her some questions, 
but she told me, madam, I have not leave to tell you 
any thing else till to-morrow, only that nobody shall 
come to disturb you; and now I ^m going about some 
business, and I will come back presently, for my bed 
is in the closet near your bed : so she left me there for 
a quarter of an hour. The great amazement I was in 
took away all my senses, or the free exercise of them, 
for I had not liberty to think of my parents, nor of 
grief, nor of the danger that was so near me : so in 
this suspension of thought, the waiting-maid came and 
locked the chamber door after her, and told me, madam 
let us go to bed, and only tell me at what time in the 
morning you will have the chocolate ready? I asked 
her name, and she told me it was Mary. Mary, said 
I, for God's sake tell me whether I come to die or not? 
I have told you, madam, said she, that you come to 
live as one of the happiest creatures in the world^ 
And as I observed her reservedness, I did not ask her 
any more cjuestions : so recommending myself to God 
Almighty, and to our lady of Pilar, and preparing 
myself to die, I went to bed, but could not sleep one 
minute. I was up with the day, but Mary slept till 
six o'clock : then she got up, and wondering to 
see me up, she said to me, pray madam, will you drink 
chocolate now? Do what you please, replied I, then 
she left me half an hour alone, and she came back with 
a sih er plate with two cups of chocolate and some 
biscuits on it. I drank one cup, and desired her to 
drink the other, which slie did. Well Mary, said I, 
can you give me any account of the reason of my being 



TO POPERY- 279 

here? Not yet, madam, said she, but only have pati- 
ence for a little while. With this answer, she left me^ 
and an hour after came again witli two baskets, with 
a fine holland shift, a hoUand under petticoat, with fine 
lace round about it : two stlk petticoats and a little 
Spanish waistcoat, with a gold fringe all over it : 
with combs and ribbons, and every thing suitable to 
a lady of higher quality than I : but my greatest sur- 
prise was to see a gold snufF-box with the picture of 
Don Francisco Torrejon in it* Then 1 soon under- 
stood the meaning of my confinement. So 1 consider- 
ed with myself, that to refuse the present would be the 
occasion of my immediate death, and to accept of it 
was to give him, even on the first day, too great en- 
couragement against my honor. But I found, as I 
thought then, a medium in the case j so I said, Mary, 
pray give my service to Don Francisco Torrejon, and 
tell him, that as I could not bring my clothes with me 
last night, honesty permits me to accept of these clothes 
which are necessary to keep me decent; but since I 
take no snuff, I beg his lordship to excuse me, if I do 
not accept this box. Mary w^ent to him with this an- 
swer, and came again with a picture nicely set in gold 
with four diamonds at the four corners of it, and told 
me, that his lordship was mistaken, and that he desir* 
ed me to accept that picture, which w^ould be a great 
favour to him ; and while I was thinking with myself 
what to do, Mary said to me, pray madam, take my 
poor advice, accept the picture, and every thing that 
he sends to you ; for consider, that if you do not con- 
sent and oo ; j ly with every thing he has a mind ibr» 



S80 A MASTER-KEY 

you will soon be put to death, and nobody will defend 
you; but if you are obliging and kind to him, he is a 
very complaisant and agreeable gentleman, and will 
be a charming lover, and ymi will be here like a queen 
and he will give you another apartment, with a fine 
garden, and many young ladies shall come to visit you: 
80 I advise you to send a civil answer to him, and de- 
sire a visit from him ; or else you will soon begin to 
repent yourself, dear God, said I, must I abandon 
my honor without any remedy! If 1 oppose his desire, 
he by force will obtain it; so, full of confusion, I bid 
Mary to give him what answer she thought fit : she 
v.as very glad of my humble submission^ and went to 
give Don Francisco my answer. She came back a 
few minutes after, all overjoyed to tell me that his lord- 
ship would honor me with iiis company at supper, and 
that he could not come sooner on the account of some 
business that called liim abroad ; but in the mean time 
desired me to mind nothing, but how to divert myself, 
and to give Mary my measure for a suit of new clothes, 
and order her to bring me every thing I could wish 
for; Mary added to this, madam, I may call you now 
my mistress, and must tell you, that I hiave been in 
the holy office these fourteen years, and I know^ the 
customs of it very vvell^ but because silence is imposed 
upon me under pain of death, I cannot tell you any 
thing but what concerns your person; so, in the first 
place, do not oppose the holy fathcr^s will and plea- 
sure : secondly, if you see some young ladies here, ne- 
ver ask them the occasion of their being here, nor any 
thing of their business, neither will they ask you any 



TO POPERY. 2S1 

tfiiiig of this nature, and take care not to tell tlicni 
any thiii.i; of your being here ; you may come and di- 
vert yourself with them at such liours as arc a[)point- 
ed ; you shall have music, and all sorts of j'ccreations; 
4:liree days hence you shall dine with them, they are 
all ladies of quality, young and merry, and this is the 
best of lives, you will not long fol' going abroad, you 
will be so well diverted at home ; and when your time 
is expired, tlien the holy fathers will send you out of 
this country, and marry you to some noblemaa. Ne- 
ver mention the name of Don Francisco, nor your 
name to any: if you see here some young ladies of 
your acquaintance in the city, they never will take no- 
tice of your ftirmerly knowing each other, though they 
will talk with you of indifferent matters, so take care- 
not to speak any thing of your family. All these things 
together made me astonished, or rather stupificd, and 
the ^vhole seemed to me a piece of eucliantment; so 
that I could not imagine what to think of it. With 
this lesson she left me, and told me she was going to 
order my dinner, and every time she went out, she 
locked the door aftei* her. There were but two high 
windows in my chamber, and I could see notliing 
through them, but examining the room all over, I found 
a closet with all so rts4>f historical and profane books> 
and every thing necessary for writing. So 1 spent my 
time till tiie dinner came in, re?^ding some diverting 
amorous stories, which was a great satisfaction to me. 
AVhen Mary came with the things for the table, 1 told 
her that I was inclined to sleep, and that I would ra- 
ther sleep than go to dinner, so she asked me wrhethet 

A a i 



582 A MASTER-KEY 

she should awaken me or not, and at what time ? Two 
hours hence, said I; so I lay down and fell asleep, 
which was a great refreshment to me. At the time 
fixed, she awoke me, and I went to dinner, at which 
was every thing that could satisfy the nicest appetite. 
After dinner, she left me alone, and told me if I want- 
ed any thing, I might ring the hell and call : so I 
went lo the closet again, and spent tliree hours in 
reading. I think really I was under some enchant- 
ment, for I was in a perfect suspension of thought, so 
as to rememhcr neither father nor mother, for this run 
least in my mind, and what was at that time most in 
it, I do not know. Mary came and told me, that 
Don Francisco was come home, and that she thought 
lie would come to see me very soon, and hegged of 
me to prepare myself to receive him with all manner 
of kindness. 

At seven in tlic evening Don Francisco came, in his 
night-gown and night- cap, not with tlie gravity of an 
inquisitor, hut with the gaiety of an officer. He salut- 
ed me with great respect and civility, and told me he 
had designed to keep me company at supper, hut could 
not that night, having some husiness of consequence 
to finish in his closet; and that Ins coming to see me 
was only out of the respect he had for my family, and 
to tell mc at the same time, that some of my lovers 
bad procured my ruin for ever, accusing me in mat- 
ters of religion ; that the informations were takeny and 
the sentence pronounced against me, to he hurnt alive 
in a dry pan, with a gradual fire; but that he, out of 
pity and love to my family, had stopped the execution 



TO POPERY. 28)1 

of it. Each of these words was a mortal stroke on 
my heart, and knowing not what I was doing, I threw 
myself at his feet, and said. Seignior, have you stop- 
ped the execution for ever ? That only belongs to you 
to stop it or not, said he, and with this he wished me 
a good night. As soon as he went away, I fell a cry- 
ing, but Mary came and asked me what caused me to 
cry so bitterly ? Ah ! good Mary, said I, pray tell me 
what is the meaning of the dry pan and gradual fire? 
for I am in expectation of nothing but death, and that 
by it. O, pray never fear, you will see another day 
the pan and gradual fire ; but they are made for those 
who oppose the holy fathers^ will, not for you, that 
are so ready to obey them. But, pray, was Don Fran- 
cisco very civil and obliging ? I do not know, said I^ 
for his discourse has put me out of my wits ; this I 
know, that he saluted me with respect and civility, 
but he has left me abruptly ; well, said Mary, you do 
not know him, he is the most obliging man in the 
world, if people are civil with him, and if not, he is as 
unmerciful as Nero, and so for your own preservation, 
take care and oblige him in every respect ; now, pray 
go to supper and be easy, I was so much troubled in 
mind with the thoughts of the dry pan and gradual 
fire, tliat I could neither eat nor sleep that night. Ear- 
ly in the morning Mary got up, and told me, that no- 
body was yet up in the house, and that she would shew 
me the dry pan and gradual fire, on condition that I 
should keep it secret, f)r her sake and my own too; 
which I having promised her, she took me along with 
her, and shewed. me a dark room with a thick iron 



2St A MASTER-KEY 

door, and within it an oven, with a large brass pan 
upon it and a cover of the same, with a lock to it ; the 
oven was burning at that time. I asked Mary what 
use that pan was for ? and she^ without giving me any 
any answer, took me by the hand out of that place, 
and led me into a large room, where she shewed me a 
thick wheel, covered on both sides with thick boards, 
and opening a little window in the centre of it, desir- 
ed me to look with a candle on the inside, and I saw 
all the circumference of tlie wheel set with sharp ra- 
sors. After that she shewed me a pit full of serpents 
and toads. Then she said to me, now, my good mis- 
tress, I will tell you the use of these three things. The 
dry pan and gradual fire are for liereticks, and those 
those that oppose the holy fathers' will and pleasure; 
for they are put all naked and alive into the pan, and 
the cover of it being locked up, the executioner begins 
to put in the oven a small fire, and by degrees he aug- 
ments it till the body is burnt into ashes. The second 
is designed for those tliat speak against the pope and 
the holy fathers ; and they are put within the wheel, 
nnd the door being locked, the executioner turns the 
wheel till the person is dead. And the third is for 
those that contemn the images, and refuse to give the 
due respect and veneration to tlic ecclesiastical per- 
sons, for they are thrown into the pit, and there they 
become the food of serpents and toads. Tlien Mary told 
»ne, tlmt anotiier day she would shew me torments for 
public sinners, and transgressors of the five command- 
ments of our holy mother the church ; so I, in a deep 
amazement, desired Mary to shew no more places, far 



TO POPERY. 28& 

^he veiy thouglits of those three which I had seen, 
were enough to terrify me to the heart. So we went 
to my room, and she charged me again to he very ohe- 
dient to the commands Don Francisco should give me, 
or to he assured, if I was not, that I was to undergo 
the torment of tlie dry pan. Indeed I conceived such 
a horror for the gradual fire, that I was not mistress 
of my senses, nay, nor of my thoughts : so I told Ma- 
ry th^t I would follow her advice, and grant Don 
Francisco every thing he would desire of me. If you 
are in that disposition, said she, leave off all fears and 
apprehensions, and expect nothing hut pleasure and 
satisfaction^ and all manner of recreation, and you 
shall begin to experience some of these tilings this 
very day. Now let me dress you, for you must go to 
wish a good morrow to Don Francisco, and to break- 
fast with him. I thought really this was a great ho- 
nor to me, and some comfort to my troubled mind ; so 
I made all the haste I could, and Mary conveyed me 
through a gallery into Don Francisco\s apartment. 
He was still in bed, and desired me to sit down by 
him, ordering Mary to bring the chocolate two hours 
after, and with this she left me alone with Don Fran- 
cisco, who immediately ardently declaring his inclina- 
tions, I had not the liberty to make any excuse ; and 
so by extinguiahi ng the fire of his passion, I was free 
from the gradual fire and dry pan, wdiich was all that 
then troubled my mind. When Mary came with the 
chocolate, I was very much ashamed to be seen with 
him in bed, but she coming to the bed-side where I w^as, 
and kneeling down, paid me homage as if I was a 



2S6 A MASTER-KEY 

queen ; and served me first with a cup of chocolate? 
still on her knees, and bade me to give another cup to 
Don Francisco myself, which he received very graci- 
ously, and having drank up the chocolate, slie went 
out; we discoursed for a while of various things, but 
I never spoke a word except, when he desired me to 
answer him : so at ten o^clock Mary came again, and 
dressing me, she desired me to go along with her, and 
leaving Don Francisco in bed, she carried me into 
another chamber very delightful, and better furnished 
than the first ; for the w^indows of it were lower, and 
I had the pleasure of seeing the river and gardens on 
the other side of it. Then Mary told me, madam, the 
young ladies of this house will come before dinner to 
welcome you, and make themselves happy in the ho- 
nour of your company, and will take you to dine with 
them. Pray remember the advices I have given you 
already, and do not make yourself unhappy by asking 
useless questions. She had not finished tliese words, 
when I saw entering my apartment (which consisted 
of a large antichamber and a bed-chamber with two 
closets) a troop of young ladies, finely dressed, who 
all, one after another, came to embrace me, and to wdsh 
me joy. My senses were in a perfect suspension, and 
I could not speak a word, nor answer their kind com- 
pliments : but one of them seeing me so silent, said to 
me, madam, the solitude of this place will affect you 
in the beginning, but when you begin to be in our 
company, and feel the pleasure of our amusements and 
recreations, you will quit your pensive thoughts : now 
we beg of you the honor to come and dine with us to 



TO POPERY. 287 

day, and hencefortli three days in a week. I thanked 
them, and we went to dinner. That day we had all 
sorts of exquisite meats, and were served with delicate 
fruits and sweet-meats. The room was very long, 
with two tahlcs on each side, another at the front of 
it, and I reckoned in it tliat day fifty-two young ladies, 
the oldest of them not exceeding twenty-four years of 
age : six maids served the whole number of us, but my 
Mary waited on me alone at dinner : after dinner we 
went up stairs in a long gallery, all round about with 
lattice-windows ; where, some of us playing on musi- 
cal instruments, others at cards, and others walking 
about, we spent three hours together. At last Mary 
came up, ringing a small bell, which was the signal 
to retire into our rooms, as they told me ; but Mary 
said to the whole company, ladies, to-day is a day of 
recreation, so you may go into what room yon please 
till eight o'clock, and tlien you are to go into your own 
chambers : so they all desired leave to go with me to 
my apartment, to spend the time there, and I was very 
glad, that they preferred my chamber to another ; so 
all going down together, we found in my antichamber 
a table, with all sorts of sweet-meats upon it, iced cin- 
namon-water, and almond's-milk, and the like, every 
one eat and drank, but nobody spoke a word touching 
the sumptuousness of the table, nor mentioned any 
thing concerning the inquisition of the holy fathers. 
So we spent our time in merry indifferent conversa- 
tion, till eight o'clock. Then every one retired to 
their own rooms, and Mary told me that Don Fran- 
cisco was waiting for me ; so we went to his apart- 



USS A MASTER-KEY 

ment, and supper being ready, we both sat down to 
the table, attended only by my maid. After supper 
Mary went away, and we to bed, and next morning 
slie served us with chocolate, which we drank in bed, 
and then slept till ten o'clock. Then we got iipi, 
and my waiting-maid carried me into my chamber, 
where I found ready two suits of clothes, of a rich 
brocade, and every thing else suitable to a lady of the 
first rank* I put on one, and when I was quite dres- 
sed, the young ladies came to wish me a good morrow, 
all dressed in different clothes, and better than the day 
before, and we spent the second and third day in the 
same recreation ; Don Francisco continuing afso with 
me in the same manner. But the fourth morning, af- 
ter drinking chocolate in bed, as the custom was for 
Don Francisco and me, Mary told me that a lady was 
waiting for me in the other room, and desired me to 
get up with a haughty look, and Don Francisco say- 
ing nothing, I got up, and left him in bed. I thought 
that it was to give me some new comfort and diver- 
sion; but I was very much mistaken, for Mary con- 
veyed me into a yonng lady's room not eight feet 
long, which was a perfect prison, and there, before the 
lady, told me, madam, this is your room, and this 
young lady your bedfellow and companion, and left 
me there with this unkind command. 

O heavens ! thought I, what is this that has hap- 
pened to me ? I fancied myself out of grief, and I per- 
ceived now the beginning of my vexation. WJiat is 
this, dear lady ? said I, is this an enchanted palace, or 
an hell upon earth? I have lost father and mother, 



TO POPERY. 2S9 

a«d what is worse, I have lost my honor, and my soul 
for ever. My new companion, seeing me like a mad 
woman, took me by the hands, and said to me, dear 
sister (for this is the name I will give you henceforth) 
leave ofFyonr crying, leave off your grief and vexa- 
tion; for you can do nothing by such extravagant 
complaints, but heap coals of fire upon your head, or 
rather under your body. Your misfortunes and ours 
are exactly of a piece : you suffer nothing that we 
have not suffered before you ; but we are not allowed 
to shew our grief, for fear of greater evils : pray take 
good courage, and hope in God ; for he will find some 
way or other to deliverus out of this hellish place ; 
but above all things, take care not to shew any unea- 
'Siness before Mary, wlio is the only instrument of our 
torment or comfort, and have patience till we go to 
bed, and then without any fear, I will tell you more 
of the matter. We do not dine with the other ladies to-- 
day, and may be we shall have an opportunity of talk- 
ing before night, which I hope will be of some comfort 
to you. I was in a most desperate condition, but my 
new sister Leonora, (this was her name) prevailed so 
much upon me, that I overcame my vexation before 
Mary came again to bring our dinner, which was ve« 
ry different from that I had three days before. After 
dinner, another maid came to take away the platter 
and knife, for we had but one for us both, so locked up 
the door* 

Now, my sister, said she, we need not fear being dis- 
turbed all this night : so I may safely instruct you, if 
you will promise me upon the hopes of salvation, not 
I- B b 



290 A MASTER-KEY 

to reveal the secret while you are in this place, of the 
things I sliall tell you. I threw myself down at her 
feet, and promised secresy. Then she begun to say: 
*^ My dear sister, you think it a hard case that has 
happened to you, I assure you, all the ladies in this 
house have already gone through the same, and in time 
you shall know all their storiCvS, as they hope to know 
yours, I suppose that Mary has been the chief instru- 
ment of your fright, as she has been of ours, and 1 
warrant she has shewn to you some horrible places, 
though not all, and that only at the thought of them, 
you were so much troubled in your mind, that you 
have chosen the same way we did to get some ease in 
our hearts. By what lias happened to us, we know that 
Don Francisco has been your Nero ; for the three co- 
lours of our clothes are the distinguishing tokens of 
the three holy fathers : the red silk belongs to Don 
Francisco, the blue to Guerrero, and the green to Al- 
iaga. For they give the three first days these colours 
to those ladies they bring for th^ir use. We are 
strictly commanded to make all demonstrations of joy, 
and to be very merry three days, when a young lady 
comes here, as we did w ith you, and you must do with 
others : but after it, we live like prisoners, without 
seeing any living soul but tlie six maids, and Mary, who 
is the housekeeper. We dine all of us in the hall three 
days ill a week, and three days in our rooms. When 
any of the lioly fathers have a mind for one of his 
slaves, Mary comes for her at nine o'clock, and con- 
veys her to his apartment : but, as they have so many, 
the turn comes perhaps once in a month, except for 



TO POPERY. 29t 

those who have the honor to give them more satisfac- 
tion than ordinary, those are sent for often. Some 
nights Mary leaves the door of our rooms open, and 
that is a sign that some of the fathers have a mind to 
come that night, but he comee in so silently that we do 
not know whether he is our own patron or not. If 
one of us happen to be with child, she is removed to a 
better chamber, and she sees no person but the maid 
till she is delivered. The child is sent away, and we 
do not know where it is gone. Mary does not suffer 
quarrels between us, for if one happens to be trouble- 
some, she is bitterly chastised for it : so we are always 
under a continual fear. I have been in this house 
these six years, and I was not fourteen years of age, 
when the officers took me from my father's house, and 
I have been brought to bed but once. We are at pre- 
sent fifty-two young ladies, and we lose every year 
six or eight, but we do not know where they are sent; 
hid at the same time we get new ones, and sometimes, 
I have seen here seventy-three ladies. All our conti- 
nual torment is to think, and with great reason, that 
Avhen the holy fathers are tired of one, they put her to 
death; for they never will run the hazard of being 
discovered in their misdemeanors : so, we cannot op- 
pose their commands, and therefore we commit so ma- 
ny enormities, yet we still fervently pray God and his 
blessed mother to forgive us them, since it is against 
our wills we do them, and to preserve us from death 
in this liouse. So, my dear sister, arm yourself with 
patience, and put your trust in God, who will be our 
only defender and deliverer.^^ 



292 A MASTER-KEY 

This discourse of Leonora eased me in some mea* 
sure, and 1 found every thing as she had told me: and 
so we lived together eighteen months, in which time 
we lost eleven ladies, and we got nineteen new ones. 
I knew all their stories, which I cannot tell you to- 
night, but if you will be so kind as to stay here this 
week, you will not think your time lost, when you 
come to know them all. I promised her to stay that 
week, with a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction ; 
but though it were very late, and the people of the 
house were retired, I begged her to make an end of the 
story concerning herself, which she did in the following 
manner: ^* After the eighteen months, one night, Ma- 
ry came and ordered us to follow her, and going down 
stairs, she made us go into a coach, ami this we 
thought the last day of our lives. We went into another 
house, which was worse than the first, where we were 
confined several months, without seeing any of the in- 
quisitors, or Mary,, or any of our companions: and 
in the same manner we were removed from that house 
to another, where we were continued till we were mi- 
raculously delivered by the French officers. Mr. Faul- 
( aut, happily for me, opened the door of my room, and 
as soon as he saw me, he began to sliew me much ci- 
vility, and took me and Leonora along with him to 
his lodgings, and after he heard my whole story, and 
fearing that things would turn to our disadvantage, 
he ordered the next day, to send us to his father. Wf 
were dressed in men's clothes, to go the more *^^ ^" 
and so we came to this house, where I was ' . lor 
two years, as the daughter of the old mai JI Mr, 



TO POPERY. 293 

Faulcaut's regiment being broke, he came home, and 
two months after married me, Leonora was married 
\o another officer, and they live in Orleans, which be- 
ing in your way to Paris, I do not question but you 
will pay her a visit. Now my husband is at court, so- 
liciting a new commission, and he will be very glad of 
your acquaintance, if he has not left Paris before you 
go to it/' Thus ended our first entertainment the first 
night. 

I stayed there afterwards twelve days, in which she 
told me the stories of all the young ladies, which Le- 
onora repr ated to me without any alteration, as to the 
substantial points of them : but these diverting ac- 
counts, containing some particular circumstances, 
touching the Ijorrible procedure of that tribunal, but 
more especiedly, being full of amorous intrigues, I think 
fit not to insert them here, but to give them in a sepa- 
rate book to the public, if desired ; for as I have ma- 
ny other things to say, touching the corruptions of the 
Romish priests, these accounts may be inserted there, 
to shew the ill practices and corruptions of the inqui- 
sitors. So I proceed to speak of the new quarters of 
the French troops, in the inquisition, and of the resto- 
ration of the holy fathers into it, and afterwards I wiU 
go on with the instances of the public trials. 

When the marquis de Taurcey was chosen govern- 
er of the fort of Aljaferia, where formerly the holy of- 
fice was kept, he put a strong garrison into it, tlic 
holy fathers were obliged to remove and take away 
^heir prisoners, but they walled all the doors of their 
vet prisons, where they used to keep the hellish en» 
B b 2 



^9i« A MASTER-KEY 

gines, so we could not then know any thing of their 
barbarity in punishing innocents ; and I think, that 
as they considered themselves unsettled, and being in 
hopes to recover again the former place, tliey did not 
move their instruments of torment, vSo there were none 
found in the last house, when they were turned out : 
nay, among so great a number of prisoners delivered 
out of it, we could converse with none of them : for as 
soon as tliey got out. for fear of a new order from the 
king or pope, they made their escape out of the coun- 
try, and they were very much in the right of it, for the 
Inquisition is a place very much to be feared, and not 
to be tried a second time, if one can help it. 

At last, after eight months reprieve, the same inqui« 
sitors came again with more power than before, for 
Don Pedro Guerrero, first inquisitor, was chosen by 
the pope, at king Philip's request, ecclesiastical judge 
for priests, friars and nuns, to examine and punish 
crimes of disaifection to his majesty : so, for a while, 
he was pope, king, and tyrant. The first thing he 
did was to give tlie public an account of the crimes, 
for which all the prisoners that had been delivered, 
were confined in the inquisition, to vindicate this way 
the honor of the three inquisitors, commanding at the 
same time, all soi'ts of persons to discover, and secure 
any of the said prisoners, under pain of death. This 
proclamation was a thing never before heard of, and 
we may say, that satisfadio non petita^ general suspici- 
onem : for really, by this, they declared themselves 
guilty of what was charged on them, in relation to the 
seraglio, in the opinion of serious, sensible people. 



TOrOPERY. 295 

But every body was terrified by the said proclama- 
tion, and none dared to say any thing about it. 

Tlie unmerciful Guerrero, like a roaring lion, began 
to devour all sorts of people, shewing, by this, his 
great affection to the king, and fervent zeal for the 
pope; for, under pretence of their being disaffected to 
his majevSty, he confined, and that publicly, near three 
hundred friars, and one hundred and fifty priests, and 
a great number of the laity. Next to tliis, he made 
himself master of their estates, which were sold pub- 
licly, being bouglit by the good loyal subjects. He did 
suspend, ab officio <^ benejiciOf many secular priests, 
and banished them out of the dominions of Spain ; 
whipped others publicly, banished and whipped friars, 
and took the liberty insolently to go into the monas- 
tery of the nuns of St. Lucia, and whipped six of them, 
for being affected to Charles III. akd he imprisoned 
Donna Catlierina Cavero, only for being the head of 
the imperial faction. But observe, that this whipping 
of the nuns is only giving them a discipline, i. e. so 
many strokes with a rod on the shoulders ; but Guer- 
rero was so impudent and barefaced a Nero, that com- 
manding the poor nuns to turn their habits backwards, 
and discover their shoulders, he himself was the exe- 
cutioner of this unparalleled punishment. 

As to the laity that were ,put into the inquisition, 
and whose estates were seized, we did not hear any 
thing of them, but I am sure they ended their misera- 
ble lives in that horrid place. Many of them left a 
great family behind thenr, who all were reduced to 
beggary I for when the heads of them were confined^ 



296 A MASTEIl-KE¥ 

all the families must suffer with them : and this is the 
reason why more than two thousand families left the 
city and every thing they had> ratiier than undergo 
the miseries of thai time, and the crtiel persecution 
of Guerrero : so we may believe^ that having so great 
authority as he had, he soon could recruit his seraglio. 
Though Guerrero was so busy in the affairs of the 
king, he did not forget the other business concerning 
the catholic faith ; so, to make the people sensible of 
his indefatigable zeal, he began again to summon the 
priests and friars to new trials, of which 1 am going 
to speak : 

The trial of a friar of St Jerome^ organist of the convent 
in Zaragossa. 

All the summoned persons being together in the 
hall, the prisoner and a young boy were brought out, 
and after the first inquisitor had finished his bitter 
correction, the secretary read the examinations and 
sentence, as followeth : 

Whereas informations were made, and by evidences 
proved, that friar Joseph Peralta has committed the 
crime of sodomy, with the present John Romeo, his 
disciple, which the said Romeo himself owned upon in- 
terrogatories of the holy inquisitors : they having an 
unfeigned regard for the order of St. Jerome, do de- 
clare and condemn the said friar Joseph Peralta to a 
year's confinement in his own convent, but that he may 
assist at the divine service, and celebrate mass. Item, 
for an example to other like sinners, the holy fathers 
declare that the said Joiui is to be whipped through 



TO POPERY- 297 

the public streets of the town, and receive at every cor- 
ner, as it is a custom, five lashes ; and that he shall 
wear a Coraza, i. e, a sort of a mitre on his head, fea- 
thered all over, as a mark of his crime. Which sen- 
tence is to be executed on Friday next, without any 
appeal. 

After the secretary had done, Don Pedro Guerrero 
asked friar Joseph, whether he had any thing to say 
against the sentence or not? And he answering, no, 
the prisoners were carried back to their prisons, and 
the company was dismissed. Observe the equity of the 
inquisitors in this case: the boy was but fourteen years 
of age, under the power of friar Joseph, and he was 
charged with the penalty and punishment friar Joseph 
did deserve. The poor boy was whipped according to 
sentence, and died the next day. 

The trial of father FueyOf confessor of the nuns at St* 

Monica. 

This criminal had been but six days in the inquisition, 
before he was brought to hear his sentence, and every 
thing being performed as hefore, the secretary read : 

Whereas father Pueyo has committed fornication 
with five spiritual daughters, (so the nuns who confess 
to the same spiritual confessor continually, are called) 
which is, besides fornication, sacrilege, and transgres- 
sion of our commands, and he himself hath owned the 
fact ; we therefore declare, that he shall keep his cell 
for three w^eeks, and lose his employment, &c. 

The inquisitor asked him whether he had any thing 
to say against it : and father Pueyo said, holy father. 



%98 A MASTER-KEY 

I remember that when I was chosen father confessor 
of the nuns of our mother St. Monica, you had a great 
Talue for five young ladies of the monastery, and you 
sent for me, and begged of me to take care of them ; 
so I have done, as a faithful servant, and may say un- 
to you, Domine qitinque ialenta tradidisti me, ecce alia 
quinque super htcratus sum. The inquisitors could not 
forbear laughing at this application of the scripture ; 
and Don Pedro Guerrero was so pleased with this an- 
swer, that he told him, ^* you said well : therefore, 
Feccata tua remittuntur tibh nunc vade in pacCf ^ noli 
amjdius peccare.^^ This was a pleasant trial, and Pu- 
eyo was excused from the performance of his penance 
by this impious jest. 

The trial and sentence of the licentiate Lizondo. 

The secretary read the examinations, evidences and 
convictions, and the said Lizondo (who was a licenti- 
ate, or master of arts) owned the fact, whicli was as 
follows : 

The said Lizimdo, though an ingenious man, and fit 
for the sacerdotal function, would not be ordained, 
giving out that he thought himself unworthy of so high 
a dignity, as to have every day the Saviour of the 
world in his hands, after the consecration. And by 
this feigned humility he began to insinuate himself into 
the peoples' opinion, and pass for a religious, godly 
man, among them. He studied physic, and practised 
it only with the poor in the beginning ; but being cal- 
led afterwards by the rich, and especially by the nuns, 
at last he was found out in his wickedness i for he used 



TO POPERY. 299 

to give something to make the young ladies sleep, and 
this way he obtained his lascivious desires. But one 
of the evidences swore that he had done these things 
by the help of magic, and that he had used only an in- 
cantation, with wiiich he made every body fall asleep: 
but this he absolutely denied, as an imposition and fal- 
sity. We expected a severe sentence, but it was only 
that the licentiate was to discover to the inquisitors, 
on a day appointed by them, the receipt for making 
the people sleepy and that the punishment to be inflict- 
ed on him, was to be referred to the discretion of the 
holy fathers. We saw him afterwards every day walk- 
ing in the streets ; and this was all his punishment* 
We must surely believe that such crimes are reckoned 
but a trifle among them, for they very seldom shew 
any great displeasure or severity to those that are 
found guilty of them. 

Sentence given against Lawrence Castro* goldsmith^ 
of Zaragossa. 

Lawrence Castro was the most famous and weal- 
thy goldsmith in the city, and as he went one day to 
carry a piece of plate to Don Pedro Guerrero, before 
he paid him^ he bade him go and see the house along 
with one of his domestic servants ; w^hich he did, and 
seeing nothing but doors of iron, and hearing nothing 
but lamentations of the people within, having returned 
to the inquisitors' apartment, Don Pedro asked him, 
Lawrence, how do you like this place ? To which 
Lawrence said, I do not like it at all, for it seems to 
me the very hell upon eartlu This innocent, biut true 



300 A MASTER-KEY 

answer, was the only occasion of his misfortune ; for 
he was immediately sent into one of the hellish prisons, 
and at the same time many officers went to his house, 
to seize upon every thing, and that day he appeared at 
the bar, and his sentence was read ; he was condemn- 
ed to be whipped through the public streets, to be 
marked on the shoulders with a burning iron, and to 
be s^nt for ever to the gallies: but the good, hon^^st, 
unfortunate man died that very day ; all his crime be- 
ing oiily to say that the holy office seemed to him, hell 
upon earth. 

At the same time, a lady of good fortune was whip- 
ped, because she said in company, I do not know whe- 
ther the pope is a man, or a woman, and I hear won- 
derful things of him every day, and I imagine, he must 
be an animal very rare. For these wortls, she lost ho- 
nor, fortune, and life, for she died six days after the 
execution of her sentence : and thus the holy fathers 
punish trifling things, and leave unpunished horrible 
crimes. 

The following instance will be a demonstration of 
this truth, and shew how the inquisitors favour the 
ecclesiastics more than tlie laity, and the reason why 
they are more severe upon one than the other. 

In the diocess of Murcia was a parish priest in a 
village of the mountains. The people of it were almost 
all of them shepherds, and were obliged to be always 
abroad with their flocks, so the priest being the com- 
mander of the shepherdesses, began to preach every 
Friday in the afternoon, all the congregation being 
composed of the women of the town. His constant 



TO POPERY. 30i 

siibject was the indispensable duty of paying the tithes 
to him, and this not only of the fruits of the earth, but 
of the seventh of their sacraments too, which is matri- 
mony, and he had such great eh)quence to persuade 
them to secrecy, as to their husbands, and a ready 
submission to him, that he began to reap the fruit of 
his doctrine in a few days, and by this wicked exam- 
ple, he brought into the list of the tithes all the mar- 
ried w6men of the town, and he received from them the 
tenth for six years together : but his infernal doctrine 
and practice was discovered by a young woman, who 
was to be married, of whom the priest asked the tithe 
beforehand ; but she telling it to her sweet-heart, he 
went to discover the case to the next commissary of 
the inquisition, who, having examined the matter, and 
found it true, took the priest and sent him to the in- 
quisition ; he w as found guilty of this abominable sin, 
and he himself confessed it, and what was the punish- 
ment inflicted on him ? Only to confine him in a fri- 
ar's cell for six months. The priest being confined, 
made a virtue of necessity, and composed a small book, 
entitled. The true Penitent^ which w^as universally ap- 
proved by all sorts of people for solid doctrine and 
morality. He dedicated the work to the holy inquisi- 
tors, who, for a reward of his pains, gave him aiiother 
parish a great deal better than the first : but, harden- 
ed wretch ! There he fell again to the same trade of 
receiving the tithes^ upon wiiich the people of the pa- 
risli complained to the governor, who acquainted the 
king with the case, and his majesty ordered the inqui- 
sitors to applv a speedy remedy to it : so the holy fa- 

C c 



502 A MASTER-KEY 

thers sent him to the i)i>pe*s gallies for five years 
time. 

I must own, it is quite against my inclination to 
give this and the like accounts, for it will seem very 
much out of the way of a clergyman ; but if the read- 
er will make reflections on them, and consider that my 
design is only to shew how unjustly the inquisitors act 
in this and other cases, he will certainly excuse me ; 
for they really deserve to be ridiculed more than ar- 
gued against, reasoning being of no force with them; 
but a discovery of their infamous actions and laws, 
perhaps, will produce, if not in them, in some people 
at least a good effect. 

The Roman catholics believe there is a purgatory, 
and that the souls suffer more pains in it than in hell : 
but I think that the inquisition is the only purgatory 
on earth, and the holy fathers are the judges and ex- 
ccutioners in it. The reader may form a dreadful 
idea of the barbarity of that tribunal, by what I have 
already said, but 1 am sure it will never come up to 
what it is in reality, for it passeth all understanding, 
not as the peace of God, but as the war of the devil. 

So that we may easily know by this, and the afore-' 
said account, that they leave off the observance of the 
first precepts of the holy office, and chastise only those 
that speak against the pope, clergy, or the holy inqui- 
sition. 

The onl}' reason of settling that tribunal in Spain 
was to examine and chastise sinners, or those that 
publicly contemned the catholic faith : but now a man 
may blaspheme, and commit the most heinous crimes. 



TO POPEllY. 303 

if he says nothing against the three mentioned articles, 
he is free from the hellish tribunal* 

Let IIS except from this rule the rich Jews, for the 
poor are in no fear of being confined there, they are 
the rich alone that suffer in that place, not for the 
crime of Judaism, (though this is the colour and pre- 
tence) but for the crime of having riches. Francisco 
Alfaro, a Jew, and a very rich one, was kept in the 
inquisition of Sevilla four years, and after he had lost 
all he had in the world, was discharged out of it with 
a small correction : this was to encourage him to 
trade again, and get more riches, which he did in four 
years time; then he was put again into the holy office, 
with the loss of his goods and money. And after three 
years imprisonment he was discharged, and ordered 
to wear, for six months, the mark of San Benito^ i. e. 
a picture of a man in the middle of the fire of hell, 
which he was to wear before his breast publicly. Bui 
Alfaro a few days after left the city of Sevilla, and 
seeing a pig without the gate, he hung the San Beni- 
to OH the pig's neck, and made his escape. I saw this 
Jew in Lisbon, and he told me the story himself, add- 
ing, now 1 am a poor Jew, I tell every body so, and 
though the inquisition be more severe here than in 
Spain, nobody takes notice of me : I am sure, they 
would confine me for ever, if 1 had as much riches as 
1 had in Sevilla. Really the holy office is more cruel 
and inhuman in Portugal than in Spain, for I never 
saw any publicly burnt in my own country, and I saw 
in Lisbon seven at once, four young women and three 
men ; two young women were burned alive, and ah 



30i A MASTER-KEY 

old man, and the others were strangled first. But be- 
ing obliged to dismiss this chapter, and leave out ma- 
ny curious histories, I promise to relate them in the 
second i>art of this work. Now let me entreat all true 
protestants to join with me in hearty prayer to God 
Almiglity, thus : 

O eternal God, who dost rule the hearts of kings, 
and orderest every thing to the glory of the true reli- 
gion, pour thy holy spirit upon the heart of Lewis I. 
that he may see the barbarous, unchristian practices 
of the inquisitors, and with a firm resolution abolish 
all laws contrary to those given us by thy only Sou, 
our Saviour Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



PARTY. 

Of their pf^ayei^Sf adoration ofimages^ and relicks. 

ARTICLE h 

Of their prayers. 

The prayers sung or said in the church, are seven 
canonical hours, or the seven services, viz. Prima 
Tcrtia^ Sexta, JS^ona^ Vesperce^ Maiutina <^ Cornpletce. 
Prima is comi)osed of the general confession, three 
psalms, and many other prayers, with the Martyrolo- 
gio Sanctorum, i. e. with a commemoration of all the 
saints of that day. Tertia is a prayer, or service of 
three psalms, anthem, and the collect of the day, &c. 
Sexta k J\^ona are the same. Vespercb^ or evening songs 



TO POPERY. 305 

contain five anthems, five psalms, an Iiymn, Magnifi- 
cat, or my soul doth magnify, &c. with an anthem, 
collect of the day, and commemorations of some saints. 
Matutina, or matins, is tlie longest service of the se- 
ven, for it contains, 1st. The psalm, come let us 
sing. 2d. A hymn. 3d. Three anthems, three psalms, 
and three lessons of the Old Testament. 4th. Three 
anthems, tliree psalms, and three lessons of the day, 
i. e. of the life of the saint of that day, or of the mys- 
tery of it. 5th. Three anthems, three psalms, three 
lessons, of which the first heginneth with the gospel of 
the day, and two or three lines of it, and the rest is a 
homily or exposition of the gospel. 6th. Te Deam. 
7th. Five anthems, five psalms, an hymn, anthem of 
the day, the psalm, Blesse^l be the Lord of Israel, &c. 
The collect of the day, and some commemorations. 
Completctf or complices, is the last service, which con- 
tains the general confession^ an anthem, three or four 
psalms, and. Lord now lettest thou, &c. and some 
other adherent prayers for the virgin, tlie holy cross, 
saints, &c. All these seven services are said, or sung 
in Latin, every day in cathedral churches, but not in 
all the parish churches. 

In the cathedral churches on the festivals of the 
first class, or the greatest festivals, as those of Christ 
and the virgin Mary, all the seven canonical hours 
are su)ig, Prima at six in the morning, and a mass af- 
ter it. Tertia, at ten, the great mass after, and after 
the mass, Sexta and Nona. At two or three in the af- 
ternoon, thd evening song, at seven, complices, and 

half an hour after midnight the matins. \n the festi- 

c c 2 



306 A MASTER-KEY 

vals of the second class, as those of the apostles, and 
some saints placed in that class by the popes, Tertia, 
evening songs and matins are all that are sung, and 
likewise every day, though not with organ, nor mu- 
sic. 

In the parish churches,the priests sing only Tertia, 
and evening songs on Sundays and festivals of the 
first class ; except where there are some foundations, 
or settlements for singing evening songs on other pri- 
vate days. But the great mass is always sung in ev- 
ery parish chitrch, besides the masses for the dead, 
which are settled to be sung. 

In the convents of the friars, they observe the me- 
thod of tlie cathedrals, except some days of the week 
granted to them by the prior, as recreation days, and 
then they say the service, and go to divert themselves 
all the day after. As to the nuns, I have given an ac- 
count in the first chapter of their lives and conversa- 
tion. 

The priests and friars that do not say or sing the 
service with the community, are obliged in conscience 
to say those seven canonical hours every day, and if 
they do not, they commit a mf>rtal sin, and ought to 
confess it among the sins of omission. Besides these 
seven services, they have, not by precept, but by de- 
votion, the service, or small office of the virgin Mary, 
the seven penitential psalms, and other prayers of 
saints, which are by long custom become services of 
precept, for they never will dare to omit them, either 
for devotion's sake, or for fear that the laity would tax 
them with coldness and negligence in matters of exem- 
plary devotion. 



TO POPERY- 307 

As to the public prayers of the laity, they all are 
contained in the beads or rosary of the virgin Mary, 
and to give them some small comfort, there is a fixed 
time in the evening in every church for the rosary.— 
The sexton rings the bell, and when the parishioners, 
both men and women, are gathered together, the mi- 
nister of the parish, or any other priest, comes out of 
the vestry, in his surplice, and goes to the altar of the 
virgin Mary, and lighting two or more candles on the 
altar's table, he kneels down before the altar, makes 
the sign of the cross, and begins the rosary with a 
prayer to ihe virgin ; and after he has said half of the 
Ax)e Maria^ &e. the people say the other half, which 
he repeats i^w times, tlie people doing the same. Then 
he says, Gloria Fatra^ &g. and the people answ^er, ^» 
it was in the beginnings &c. Then, in the same manner^ 
the priest says half of Our Father^ and ten times half 
dve Maria^ and so he and the people do, till they have 
said them fifty times. This done, the priest says ano- 
ther prayer to the virgin, and begins her litany, and 
after every one of her titles or encomiums, the people 
answer. Or a pro nobis ^j^r^y for us. Thelitany ended, 
ihe priest and people visit five altars, saying, before 
each of them, one Pater Noster, and one Ave Maria, 
with Gloria Patra ; and lastly, the priest, kneeling 
down before the grear altar, says an act of contrition, 
and endeth wdth. Lighten our darkness we beseech thee, 
kc. All the prayers of the rosary are in the vulgar 
tongue, except Gloria Patra^ and Ora pro nobis^ L e« 
Glory be to thee, &c. and, Pray for us. 



308- AMASTEll-KEY 

After the rosary, iti some cluirches, there is Oratio 
meiitaliSf i* e. a prayer of meditation, and for this pur- 
pose the priest of the rosary, or some other of devout 
life and coFiversation, readeth a chapter in some de- 
vout book, as Thomas de Kempis, or Francis de Sa- 
les, or Father Eusehio, of the difference between tem- 
poral and eternal things, and when he has ended the 
chapter, every one on their knees begin to meditate on 
the contents of flie chapter, with great devotion and 
silence. They continue in that prayer half an hour, 
or more; and after it, the priests say a prayer of 
thanksgiving to God Almighty, for the benefits receiv- 
ed from him by all there present, &c. 

I must own, that I did always like this exeiTise of 
christian devotion* For in the books the good priests 
make use of for that purpose, there is no superstitious 
doctrine, except toucliing the mystery of the Lord's 
supper, and even in this the style is so ambiguous, 
that both protestants and Romans may use and under- 
stand it each in their own way. As for the rest of the 
meditation, it is only a sort of humiliation before God 
Almighty, contemplating his attributes, and our un- 
wortfiiness, and asking his grace and holy spirit to^ 
better our lives, and to serve him w ith a pure and 
contrite heart. So if all their prayers, wors^hip, and 
ceremonies, were as free from idolatry and supersti- 
tion as this of meditation is, I confess the church of 
Rome would have no corruptions at all. 

I said, public prayers of the laity ; for when they 
assist at the divine service, or hear mass, they only 
hear what the priest says in Latin> and answer. Ameiii, 



TO POPERY. 309 

Generally speakings they do not understand Latin, and 
especially in towns of 300 houses, and villages, tlje^* 
scarcely can be found one Latinist, except the curat 
and even he very often doth not perfectly nnderstaiid 
what he reads in Latin : by this universal ignorance, 
we may say that they do not know what they f.iay 
for; nay^ if a priest was so wicked in heart as to ciir^e 
the people in the church, and damn them all, in Latiiij 
the poor idiots must answer. Amen, not knowing wliat 
the priest says. I do not blame the common people 
in this point, but I blame the pope and priests, who 
forbid them to read tlie scripture, and by this prohibi- 
tion they cannot know vvliat St, Paul says about pray- 
ing in the vulgar wtii^ut: stj pope and prlL-sts, and 
those that plead ignorance, must answer for the peo- 
ple before the dreadful tribunal of G )d. 

Besides this public prayer of the rosary, they have 
private prayers at home, as the creed, the LoriPs 
prayer, a prayer to the virgin, the act of contrition, 
and other prayers to saints, angels, and for souls in 
purgatory. But this prayer of tlie rosary is not only 
said in church, but it is sung in the streets, and the 
custom was introduced by the Dominican friars, who 
in some parts of Spain, are called the fathers of the 
holy rosary. Sundays and holidays, after evening 
songs, the prior of the Dominicans, with all his friars 
and corporation, or fraternity of the holy rosary, be- 
gins the virgin's evening songs, all tlie while ringing 
the bells, which is a call for the procession, and when 
tlie evening songs are over, the clerk of the convent, 
dressed in his Alva or surplice, taking the standard 



310 A MASTER-KEY 

^v]lere the picture of the virgin Mary is drawn with 
a frame of roses, and two novices in surplices, with 
candlesticks, wallving on each side of the standard, the 
procession beginneth. First, all tlie brethren of the 
corporation go out of church, each with a wax candle 
in liis hand ; the standard followeth after, and all the 
friars, in two lines, follow the standard. In this or- 
der the procession goes through the streets, all sing- 
ing Ave Maria, and the laity answering as before. 
They stop in some public street, where a friar, upon 
a table preacheth a sermon of the excellency and pow- 
er of the rosary, and gathering together the people, 
they go back again into the church, where the rosary 
being over, aiiother tvm preachetl^ upon th§ §^me 
subject anotl^er sermon, exhorting the people to prac- 
tise this devotion of the rosary, and they have carried 
this extravagant folly so far, that if a man is found 
dead, and has not the beads or rosary of the virgin 
in his pocket, that man is not reckoned a christian, 
and he is not to be buried in consecrated ground till 
somebody knoweth him, and certifieth that such a man 
was a christian, and passeth his word for him. So 
every body takes care to have always the beads or 
rosary in his pocket, as the characteristic of a chris- 
tian. But this devotion of the rosary is made so com- 
mon among bigots, that they are always w ith the beads 
in their hands, and at night round about tlieir necks. 
There is nothing more usual in Spain and Portugal, 
tlian to see people in the markets, and in the shops, 
praying with their beads, and selling and buying at 
the same time ; nay? the procurers in the great piazza 



TO POPEllY. 311 

are praying with their beatls, and at the same time 
contriving and agreeing with a man for wicked in- 
trigues. So all sorts of persons having it as a law to 
say the rosary every day, some say it walking, othera 
in company5 keeping silent for a while, but the rest 
talking or laughing: so great is their attention and 
devotion in this indispensable prayer of the holy ro- 
sary. 

But this is not the worst of their practices ; for if a 
man, or priest, neglects one day to say the rosary, he 
doth not commit a mortal sin, though this is a great 
fault among them : but the divine service, or seven 
canonical hours, every priest, friar, and nun is oblig- 
ed to say every day, or else they commit a mortal sin, 
by the statutes of the church and popes. This ser- 
vice, which is to be said in private, and with christian 
devotion, is as much profaned among ecclesiastics and 
nuns, as the rosary among the laity : for I have seen 
many ecclesiastics (and I have done it- myself several 
times) play at cards, and have the breviary on the ta- 
ble, to say the divine service at the same time. Others 
walking in company, and others doing still worse 
things than these, have the breviary in their hands, 
and reading the service, when they at the same time 
are m occasione proxima peccati ; and, notwithstand- 
ing, they believe they have pei'formed exactly that 
part of the ecclesiastical duty. 

Next to this abomination, is that practised between 
a nun and her devoto, or gallant : I said, that the 
professed nuns are obliged in conscience to say the di- 
vine service in Latin, every day, which requires more 



312 A MASTER-KEY 

than an hour and a quarter to be said distinctly : but^ 
as they, ^nd their devotes, spend all tlieir time, while 
absent one from another, in writing letters of love to 
one another, tlicy have no time to say the divine ser- 
vice, if it happens, tliat they did not assist that day 
at the public service. Then when they are at the grate 
in lascivious conversation, if some other company hap- 
pens to come to the same grate, and interrupt them in 
their wicked practices, the nun bringeth two bre- 
viaries, one for herself, and one for her gallant, and 
alternatively they say the seven canonical hours, 
while the other company is there; and though they are 
saying, *^ we praise thee Lord,'^ &c. when the com- 
pany goes away, they leave immediately, for a while, 
the breviary, and come again to their amorous expres- 
sions and obscene actions, which ended, they go on 
with tlie divine service. 

I know that modesty obligeth me to be more cauti- 
ous in tliis account, and if it was not for this reason, I 
could detect the most horrible things of friars and 
nuns that ever were seen or heard in the world : but 
leaving this unpleasant subject, I come to say some- 
thing of the profit the priests and friars get by their 
irreligious prayers, and by what means they recom- 
mend them to the laity. 

The profits priests and friars get by their prayers, 
are not so great as they get by absolution and masses : 
for it is by an accident, if sometimes they are desired 
to pray for money. There is a custom, that if one 
in a faniily is sick, tlie head of the family sends im- 
mediately to some devout, religious friar or nun to 



TO POPERY. 313 

pray for the sick, so, by this custom, not all priests 
and friars are employed, but only those that are known 
to live regular lives. But because the people are ve- 
ry much mistaken in this, I crave leave to explain 
the nature of those whom the people believe religious 
friars, or in Spanish, Gazmorinos. In every convent 
there are eight or ten of those Gazmonnos, or devout 
men, who, at the examination for confessors and 
preachers, were found quite incapable of the perform- 
ance of the great duties, and so were not approved by 
tiie examiners of the convent. And though they scarce- 
ly understand Latin, they are permitted to say mass, 
that by that means the convent might not be at any 
expence with them. These poor idiots, not being able 
to get any thing by selling absolutions, nor by preach- 
ing, undertake the life of a Gazmonnos, and live a 
mighty retired life, keeping themselves in their cells, 
or chambers, and not conversing with the rest of the 
community: so their brethren Gazmonnos visit them, 
and among themselves, there is nothing spared for 
their diversion, and the carrying on their private de- 
signis. 

When they go out of the convent, it must be with 
one of the same farandula or trade : their faces are 
pale ; their eyes are fixed on the groinul, their dis- 
course all of heavenly things, their visits in public, 
and their meat and drink but very little before the 
world, though in great abundance between themselves, 
or, as they say, inter privatos parietcs* By this mor- 
tifying appearance, the people believe them to be god- 
ly men, and in such a case as sickness, they rather 

Dd 



31* A MASTER-KEY 

send to one of these to pray for the sick, than to 
other friars of less public fame. But those hypocrites 
after the apprenticeship of this trade is over, are ve- 
ry expert in it, for if any body sends for one of them, 
either without money, or some substantial present, 
they say that they cannot go, for they have so many 
sick persons to visit and pray for, tliat it is iorpossible 
for tliem to spare any time. But if money or a pre- 
sent is sent to him, he is ready to go and pray every 
where. 

So these ignorant, hypocritical friars are always 
followed by the ignorant people, who furnish them 
with money and presents for the sake of their prayers, 
and they live more comfortably than many rich })eople, 
and have 100 pistoles in their pockets, oftener than 
many of the laity who have good estates. 

Some people will be apt to blame me for giving so 
bad a character of those devout men in appearance, 
when I cannot be a judge of their hearts : but I answer, 
that I do not judge thus of all of them, but only of 
those that I knew to be great hypocrites and sinners ; 
for 1 saw seven of them taken up by the inquisitors, 
and I was at the public trial, as I have given an ac- 
count in tiie former chapter : so by those seven, we 
may give a near guess of the others, and say, that 
their outward mortifying appearance is only a cloak 
of their private designs. 

There are some nims likewise, who follow the same 
trade, as I have given one instance in the chapter of 
the inquisition: and though the ignorant jjeople see 
every day, some of those Gazmonnos taken up by tlic 



TO POPERY. 315 

inquisitors, tliey are so blinded, that tliey always look 
fi}V one of them to pray. These hypjci'ltes persuade 
the heads of families, that they are obliged in consci- 
ence to mind their own business, rather than to pray, 
and that the providence of God has ordered every 
thing for the best for his creatures, and that he, fore- 
seeing that the lieads of families would have no time 
to spare for prayers, lias chosen such religious men 
to pray for them, so they are well recompensed for 
tlicir prayers, and God only knoweth whether they 
pray or not. Most commonly, when they are want- 
ed, tliey are at the club, with their brethren Gazmon- 
nos, eating and drinking, afterwards painting their fa- 
ces with some yellow drug, to make themselves look 
pale and mortified. O good God ! how great is thy 
patience in tolerating such wicked men ? 

Besides these monastical persons, there are many 
blind people, who can repeat some prayers to saints 
by heart, and get money for them. They walk the 
streets day and night, and they carry a lanthorn by 
night, not to see with, but to be seen by others. Tiie 
people call them, and give a penny for saying tha 
prayer of such a saint, and this way they make their 
lives very merry and easy. 

As to tiie means the priests and friars make use of, 
and the doctrines they preach to recommend this ex- 
ercise of praying to the people, I can give but one in- 
stance of them as matter of fact, for I was the author 
of it. Being desired to preach upon the subject of 
prayer, by the mother abbess of the nuns of St. Clara, 
who had told me in private, that many of her nuns 



^±6 A MASTER-KEY 

neglected tlieii* prayers, and were most commonly at 
the grate with their devotos, and the good mother, out 
of pure zeal, told me, that such nuns were the devils 
of the monastery ^ so to oblige her, I went to preach, 
and took my text out of the gospel of St. Matthew, 
chap. xvii. ver. 21. ^^ Howbeit this kind goeth not out 
but by prayer and fasting;'^ but in our vulgar, the text 
is thus, Howbeit this kind of devils, &c. And after I 
Lad explained the text^ confining myself wholly to the 
learned Silveira's commentaries, I endeavoured to 
prove, that the persons devoted to God by a public 
profession of monastical life, were bound in conscience* 
to pray without ceasing, as St. Paul tells us, and that 
if they neglected this indispensable duty, they were 
worse than devils: and after tiiis proposition, I point- 
ed out the way and method to tame such devils, which 
was by prayer and fasting: and lastly, the great obli- 
gation laid upon us by Jesus Christ and liis apostles, 
to make use of this exercise of prayer, wliich 1 recom- 
mended as a medium to attain the highest degree of 
glory in heaven, and to exceed even angels, prophets, 
patriarchs, apostles, and all the saints of the heavenly 
court* 

I do not intend to give a copy of the sermon, but 
I cannot pass by the proof I gave to confirm my pro- 
position, to shew by it, the trifling method of preach- 
ing, most generally used among the Roman catholic 
preachers. 

<^ The historiograpliers and chronologers of St. 
Augustine's order, say, that the great father Au- 
gustine is actually in heavenj, before the throne of the 



TO POPERY. 317 

holy trinity, as a reward for the unparalelled zeal and 
devotion he had on earth, for that holy mystery, and 
because he spent all his free time on earth in praying, 
which makes liim now in heaven greater than all sorts 
of saints. They say more, viz. that in the heaven of 
the holy Trinity, there are only the Father, the Son, 
the Holy Ghost, the virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and the 
last of all, St. Augustine. Thus fiither Garcia, in his 
Santoral, printed in Zaragossa, in 1707, see sermon 
on St. Augustine.'' 

To this, 1 knew would be objocted, the iltli verse of 
the lllh chapter of St. Mattliew, ^' Among them that 
are born of w'omen, there hath not risen a greater than 
John the baptist.- ' To whicli I answered, that there 
was no rule without an exception, and that St. Augus- 
tine was excepted from it : and this I proved by a 
maxim received among divines, viz. Iifimum supremi 
excedit supreimun mjimif the least of a snpei'ior order 
exceeds the greatest of an inferior. 'J'liere are three 
heavens, as St. Paul says, and, as otlier expositors, 
three orders. They place in the first heaven, tlve three 
Divine Persons, the virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and St. 
Augustiue; in the second, the spiritual intelligences; 
and in the tliird, St. John Baptist, at the head of all 
the celestial army of saints. Then, if St. Augustine is 
the last in the hijjhest heaven, though St. John is the 
first in the lowest, we must conclude, by the aforemen- 
tioned maxim, that the great fatlier Augustine exceeds 
in glory all the saints of the heavenly court, as a due 
reward for his fervent zeal in praying, while he was 
below among men. 

B d2 



318 A MASTER KEY 

With tliis instance, I recommended the exercise of 
prayer to the nuns, assuring them of the same reward 
in heaven, if they imitated so glorious a saint : nay, 
I corroborated this with the historical account of St. 
Augustine's heart, in the city of Pavia, which is kept 
separate from the body, in a crystal boi. The chro- 
nologers say, that every year, on Trinity Sunday, 
the heart is continually moving within the box, as if 
it were alive, and that this is a testimony of the great 
devotion of that saint for the Trinity, and a proof that 
lie is before that holy mystery, praising continually 
the blessed Trias, and so his heart, by its continual 
motion on that day, shews the great reward of his soul 
in lieavcn. 

Tlic liiore I remember this, and the like nonsensi- 
cal proofs and nietliods of preaching, the more 1 thank 
God for his goodness, in bringing me out of that com- 
munion into another, where, by application, 1 learn 
how to make use of the scripture, to the spiritual good 
of souls^ and not to amusements, which are prejudici- 
al to our salvation. 

Tims I liave given you an account of the public and 
private prayers of priests, friars, nuns, and laity ; of 
tiie profits they have by it, and of the methods they 
take to recommend this exercise of praying, to all 
sorts and conditions of people* Sure I am, that after 
a mature consideration of tlieir way of praying, and of 
that we make use of in our reformed congregations., 
every body may easily know the great difference be- 
tween them both, and that the ibrm and practice of 
prayf^rs among protestants, are more agreeable to God 
than tliose of the Romish priests and friars can be. 



TO rOPERY, S19 

ARTICLE IL 

Of the adoration of Images. 

The adoration of images was commanded by seve- 
ral general councils, and many popes, wliose commands 
and decrees are obeyed as articles of our christian . 
faith, and every one that brouketh them, or, in his 
outward practice doth not conform to them, is punish- 
ed by the inquisitors as an heretic; therefore it is not 
to be wondered at, if people, educated in such a belief, 
without any knoAvledge of the sin of such idolatrous 
practices, adore the images of the saints with the same, 
and sometimes more devotion of heart, than they do 
God Almighty in spirit. 

I begin, therefore^ this article with myself^ and my 
own forgetfulness of God. When I was in the college 
of Jesuits, to learn grammar, the teachers w^ere so 
careful in recommending to their scholars devotion lo 
the virgin Mary of Pilar, of Zaragossa, and this doc- 
trine, by long custom, was so deeply impressed in our 
hearts, that every body, after the school was over, 
used to go to visit the blessed image, this being a rule 
and a law for us all, which was observed with so great 
strictness, that if any student, by accident, missed that 
exercise of devotion, he was the next day severely 
whipped for it. For my part, I can aver, that during 
the tiiree years I went to the college, I never was pun- 
ished for want of devotion to the virgin. In the be- 
ginning of our exercises, we were bidden to write the 
following wo^ds, Birige tu calamum Virgo Marian me- 
nm; govern Imy pen, virgin Mary! And this was 



32ft A MASTER-KEY 

my constant practice in the beginning of ali rny scho- 
lastical and moral writings, for tlie space of ii^u yearsy 
in which, I protest before my eternal Judge, 1 do not 
remember whether I did invoke God or call on his sa- 
cred name, or not. This I remember, that in all my 
distempers and sudden afflictions, my daily exclama- 
tion was, Virgin del Pilar / help me, O virgin ! &c. 
so great was my devotion to her, and so great my for- 
getfulness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ. And 
indeed a man that does not inquire into the matter, 
hath more reason, according to the doctrine taught 
in those places, to trust in the virgin Mary, than 
in Jesus Christ: for these are common expres- 
sions in their sermons : tliat " neither God, nor 
Jesus Christ can do any thing in heaven, but wliat is 
approved by the blessed Mary ; she is the door of glo- 
ry, and nobody can enter into it, but by her influence," 
&c. And the preachers give out these propositions as 
principles of our faith, insomuch, that if any body 
dares to believe the contrary, he is reputed a heretic, 
and punished as such. 

But because this article requireth a full examina- 
tion, and an account to be given of the smallest cir- 
cumstances belonging to it, I shall keep the class and 
order of saints, and of the adoration they are worship- 
ped with, by most people in the Roman catholic coun- 
tries. And first of all, the image of Jesus Christ is 
adored as if the very image of wood was the veiy 
Christ of flesh and bones. To clear this, I will give 
an instance or two of what! myself s^^ 



TO POPERY. S2i 

In the cathedral church of St. Sal\ ator, tliere was 
4n old image of JesUvS Christ, crucified, behind the 
choir, in a smajl unminded chapel ; nobody took no- 
tice of that crucifix, except a devout prebend, or ca- 
non of the church, who did use every day to kneel 
before that image, and pray lieartily to it. The pre- 
bend (though a religious man in outward appearance) 
was ambitious in his heart of advancement in the 
church ; so, one day, as he was on his kne s before the 
old image, he was begging that, by its power and in- 
fluence, he might be made a bishop, and after a cardi- 
nal, and lastly, pope ; to which earnest request the 
image gave him tins answer, Et tu que me ves a quU 
que hazes pormi? i. e. And thou seest me here, what 
dost thou do for me ? These very words are written, 
at this present day, in gilt letters, upon the crown of 
thorns of the crucifix: to w^lurh the prebend answer- 
ed, Domine peccavi^ <^ matiira coram tefeci, i. e. Lord 
I have sinned, and done evil before thee. To this hum- 
ble request, the image said, '' thou shalt be a bishop,'* 
and accordingly he was made a bishop soon after. 
These words, spoken by the crucifix of the cathedral 
church, made such a noise, that crowds of well dispo- 
sed, creduh)us people used to come every day to offer 
their gifts to the miraculous image of our Saviour^ 
and the image which was not minded at all before, af- 
ter it spoke was, and has been ever since, so much 
reverenced, that the offerings of the first six years 
were reckoned worth near a million of crowns. The 
history of tliemiracle reports, that the thing happen- 



[iiemi 



ed in the ye3PR62, and that the chapter did initend 



322 A MASTER-KEY 

to build a cliapel in one corner of the cbiirch, to pu- 
the crucifix in with more veneration and decency ; but 
the image spoke again to the prebend and said, ^' my 
pleasure is to continue where I am till the end of the 
world:'' so the crucifix is kept in the same chapel, but 
richly adorned, and nobody ever since dare touch any 
thing belonging to the image, for fear of disobliging 
the crucifix. It has an old wig on its head, the very 
sight of which is enough to make every one laugh; its 
face looks so black and disfigured, that nobody can 
guess wlicther it is tiie face of a man or a woman, but 
every body believes that it is a crucifix, by the other 
circumstances of the cross and crown of thorns. 

This image is so much adored, and believed to have 
such a power of working miracles, that if they ever 
carry it out in a procession, it must be on an urgent 
necessity : for example, if there is want of i nin in such 
a degree tliat the harvest is almost lost, then, by the 
common consent of the archbishop and chapter, a day 
is fixed to take the crucifix out of its chapel in a pub- 
lic procession, at which all tlie priests and friars are 
to assist without any excuse, and the devout people 
too, W'ith marks of repentance and public penances, 
likewise the archbisliop, viceroy, and magistrates, 
ought to assist in robes of raourning ; so when the day 
comes, which is most commonly very cloudy, and dis- 
posed to rain, all the communities meet together in 
the cathedral church: and in the year 1706, I saw, 
upon such an occasion as this, 600 disciplinants, whose 
blood run from their shoulders to tli^gMpound, many 



others witli long heavy crosses, othWrwith a heavy 



W^vi 



TO POPERY. 323 

bar of iron, or chains of the same, hanging at their 
Tiecks; with such dismal objects in the mid«l!eofthe 
procession, twelve priests dressed in black ornaments, 
taking the crucifix on their shonlders, and with great 
veneration carrying it through the streets, the eunuchs 
singing the litany, 

I said, that this image is never carried out but when 
there is great want of rain, and wlien there is sure 
appearance of plenty of it ; so they never are disap- 
pointed in having a miracle published after such a 
procession : nay, Sometimes it begins to rain before 
the crucifix is out of its place, and the people are al- 
most certain of the power of the image: so that year 
the chapter is sure to receive double tithes : for every 
body vows and promises two out of ten to the church 
for the recovery of the harvest. 

But what is more than this, is, that in the last wars 
between king Philip and king Charles, as the people 
were divided into two factions, they gave out by a re- 
velation of an ignorant silly beata, that the crucifix 
was a butiflcro, i. e. affectionate to king Philip, and at 
the same time there was another revelation, that his 
mother, the virgin of Pilar, was an imperialist, i. e» for 
king Charles; and the minds of the people were so 
much prejudiced with their opinion, that the parti- 
zans of Philip went to the crucifix, and those of king 
Charles to the virgin of Pilar. Songs were made 
upon this subject : one said, When Charles the Third 
mounts on his horse, the virgin of Pilar holds the 
stirrup. TMB|er said. When Philip comes to our 
land, the crucifix of St. Salvator guides him by his 



32* A MASTER-KEY 

hand. By these two factions, both the virgin and her 
son's image began to lose the presents of one of the 
parties, and the chapter, having made a bitter com- 
plaint to the inquisitors, these did put a stop to their 
sacrilegious practices ; so high is the people's opinion 
of the image of the cruciifix, and so blind their faith, 
that all the world would not be able to persuade them 
that that image did not speak to the canon, or pre- 
bendary, and tliat it cannot work miracles at any 
time. Tlierefore our custom was after school, to go 
first to visit the crucifix, touch its feet with our hand, 
and kiss it, and from thence go to visit the image of 
the virgin of Pilar, of which I am going to speak, as the 
next image to that of Jesus Christ, though, in truth, 
the first as to the people's devotion. 

And because the story, or the liistory of the image, 
is not well known, at least, I never saw any foreign 
book treat of it, it seems proper to giv<^ a full account 
of it here, to satisfy the curiosity of many that love to 
read and liear new things, and this I think is worth 
every body's observation. 

The book, called The History of oui^ Lady of Pilar 
and her Miracles, contaius, to the best of my memo- 
ry, tlie following account: the apostle St. James came, 
with seven new converts, to preach the gospel in Za- 
ragossa, a city famous for antiquity, and for its found- 
er Csesar Augustus ; but more famous for the heaven- 
ly image of otir lady : and as they were sleeping on 
tlie river Ebro's side, a celestial music awakened them 
at midnight, and they saw an army o^|||pes, melodi- 
o\tsly singing, come down fi^onir heaven, with an image 



TO POPERY. 325 

on a pillar, which they placed on the ground, forty yards 
distant from the river, and the commanding angel 
spoke to St. James, and said, ^« This image of our 
queen shall be the defence of this city, where you come 
to plant the christian religion: take therefore good 
courage, for, by her help and assistance, you shall not 
leave this city without reducing all the inhabitants in 
it to your Master's religion ; and as she is to protect 
you, you also must signalize yourself in building a de- 
cent chapel for her.'' The angels leaving the image 
on the earth, with the same melody and songs, went up 
to heaven, and St. James, with his seven converts, on 
their knees, begin to pray and thank God for this in- 
estimable treasure sent to tliem ; and the next day 
they began to build a chapel with their own hands. I 
have already giv^en an account of the chapel, and the 
riches of it, now I ought to say something of the idol- 
atrous adoration given to that image, by all the Ro- 
n>an catholics of that kingdom, and all that go to 
visit her. 

Tliis image has her ow^n chaplain, besides the chap* 
ter of tlie prebends and other priests, as I have told 
before. The virgin's chaplain has more privilege and 
power than any king, archbishop, or any ecclesiasti- 
cal person, excepting the pope ; for his business 
is only to dress the image every morning, which he 
doth in private, and without any help : I say in pri- 
vate, that is, drawing the four curtains of the vir- 
gin's canop y^ tha t nobody may see the image naked. 
Nobody hadm|P|^ty, but this chaplain, to approach so 
a«ar the image, for, as the author of the book says, 

E e 



326 A MASTER-KEY 

^' An archbishop, who had so great assurance as to at- 
tempt to say mass on the altar's tableof the virgin, di- 
ed upon the spot, before he began mass. I saw king 
Philip and king Charles, when they went to visit; the 
image stand at a distance from it. With these cauti- 
ons it is very easy to give out, that nobody can know 
of what matter the image is made, that being a thing 
referred to the angels only : so all the favour the chris- 
tians can obtain from the virgin, is only to kiss her 
pillar, for it is contrived, that by having broke the 
wall backwards, a piece of pillar as big as two crown- 
pieces is shewn, which is set out in gold round about^ 
and there kings, and other people, kneel down to adore 
and kiss that part of the stone. The stones and lime 
that were taken, when the wall was broke, are kept 
for relics, and it is a singular favour, if any can get 
some small stone, paying a great sum of money. 

There is always so great a crowd of people, that ma- 
ny times they cannotkiss the pillar; but touch it with 
one of their fingers, and kiss afterwards the part of 
the finger that touched the pillar. The large chapel 
of the lamp is always, night and day, crowded with 
people; for, as they say, that chapel was never empty 
of Christians, since St. James built it; so the people 
of the city, that work all day, go out at night to visit 
the image, and this blind devotion is not only among 
pious people, but among the most profligate and de- 
bauched too, insomuch, that a lewd woman will not 
goto bed without visiting the image; for they cer- 
tairdy believe, that nobody can be >^|||p if they do 
not pay this tribute of devotion to the sacred image. 



TO POPERY. 327 

And to prove this erroneous belief; the chaplain 
who dresses the image, as he is reckoned to be a hea- 
venly man, may easily give out what stories he pleases, 
and make the people believe any revelation from 
the virgin to him, as many of them are written in the 
book of the virgin of Pilar, viz. Dr. Augustine Rami- 
rez, chaplain to the image, in 1542, as he was dress- 
ing it, it talked with him for half a quarter of an hour, 
and said, «« My faithful and well beloved Augustine, I 
am very angry with the inhabitants of this my city for 
their ingratitude. Now, 1 tell you as my own chap- 
lain, that it is my will, and I command you to publish 
it, and say the following words, which is my speech to 
all tlie people of Zaragossa : Ungrateful people, re- 
member, that after my son died for the redemption of. 
the world, but more especially for you the inhabitants 
of this my chosen city, I was pleased two years after 
I went up to heaven, in body and soul, to pitch upon 
this select city for my dwellng place; tlierefore 1 com- 
manded the angels to make an image perfectly like my 
body, and another of my son Jesus, on my arms, and 
to set them both on a pillar, whose matter nobody can 
know, and when both were finished, I ordered them to 
be carried in a procession, round about t!ie heavens, 
by the principal angels, the heavenly host following, 
and after them the Trinity, who took me in the mid- 
dle, and wdien this procession was over in heaven, I 
sent them down with illumination and music to awake 
my beloved James, who was asleep on the river side, 
commandin|Mtoi by my ambassador Gabriel, to build 
with his own hands, a chapel for my image, which he 
did accordingly, and ever since I have been the de- 



328 A MASTER-KEY 

fence of this city, against the Saracen army, when 
by my miglity power, I killed, in one night at tlie 
breach, 50,000 of them, putting the rest to a precipi- 
tate flight. 

^^ After this visible miracle, (for many Saw me in the 
air fighting) I have delivered thejin from the oppres- 
sion of the Moors, and preserved the faith and religi- 
on unpolluted for many years, in this my city. How 
many times have I succoured them with rain, in time 
of need ? How many sick have I healed? How much 
riclies are they masters of by my unshaken affection to 
tliem all ? And what is tiie recompense they give me 
for all these benefits ? Nothing but ingratitude : I have 
been asliamed, these fifteen years, to speak before the 
eternal Father, who made me queen of this city: ma- 
ny and many times I am at court, with the three per- 
sons, to give my consent for pardoning several sinners, 
and when the Father asketh me about my city, 1 am so 
bashful I cannot lift up my eyes to him. He knowcth 
very well their ingratitude, and blamclh me for suffer- 
ing so long their covetousness : and this very njorning, 
being called to the council of the Trinity, for passing 
the divine decree, under our hands and seal, for the 
bishoprick of Zaragossa, the holy spirit has affronted 
me, saying, I was not worthy to be of the private 
council in heaven, because I did not know how to go- 
vern and punish the criminals of my chosen city, and 
I have vowed not to go again to the heavenly court 
till I get satisfaction from my offenders : so I do thun- 
der out this sentence against the iiii^^UM|ts of Zara- 
gossa, that ,1 have resolved to take away my image 
from them^ and resign my government to Lucifer, if 



TO POPERY. 329 

they do not come, for the space of 15 days^ everyday, 
with (?ifts, tcai's, and penances, to make due submis- 
sion to my imager for tlie ftiuUs committed by thera 
these 15 years : and if thi^y come witli prodigal hands, 
and true hearts, to appease my wrath, which I am 
I)leased with, they sliall see the rainbow for a signal 
that I receive them again into my favour. But, if 
not, they may he sure that the prince of darkness shall 
come to rule and reign over them ; and further I do 
declare, that they shall have no appeal, from this my 
sentence, to the tribunal of the Father ; for this is my 
will and pleasure.'* 

These are the words of tlie revelation, I mean this 
is tlie substance of it; for, periiaps, [ leave oat many 
words, and add many others, to give sense to the En- 
glish : but as to the substance I am i^ot mistaken, as 
may be foinid in the vii^^gin's b jok, piiblished by au- 
thority of the inquisitors, in 1688, in Zaragossa, by 
Peter Dormer. I had the book, wliich, for my extra- 
ordinary devotion to the virgin, I used to read every 
day, and I may give a full account of it better than of 
the Bible, having read it six or eight times every year. 
But I do not design to give a translation of it now, 
nor to be tedious upon one subject; therefore I only 
say, that after this revelation was published,^ all the 
inhabitants of the city were under such a concern, that 
the magistrates, by the archb^shop^s order, published 
an ordinance for all sorts of people to fast three days 
every week, and not to let the cattle go out those days, 
and to makiBfcem fast, as well as reasonable crea- 
tures ; and as fur the infants, not to suckle them but 



330 A MASTER-KEY 

once a day. All sorts of work were forbidden for fif- 
teen days time, in which tlie people went to confess 
and make public penances, and offer whatever money 
and rich jewels they had, to the virgin. 

Observ^e now, that this publishing of the revelation 
was in the montli of May, and it is a customary thing 
for tliat country to see almost every day the rainbow 
at that time : so there was, by all probability, certain 
hopes that the rainbow would not fail to shew its ma- 
ny coloured face^ to the inhabitants of ZaragoSvSa, as 
happened the eleventh day, but it was too late for them, 
for tliey had bestowed all their treasures on the image 
of the virgin. Tlien the rejoicings began, and the 
people were almost mad for joy, reckoning theniselvee 
the most happy, blessed people, in the universe. Then 
they vowed solemnly to build her the largest and most 
capacious church in the world ; but their want of mo- 
ney hindered the beginning of it for tGii years. Then 
the raagistrates (tliinking that the wealth of the city 
was sufficient to begin the temple) bestowed 50,000 
pistoles for the laying the foundations of it. A sub- 
scription was made among the private persons, which 
amounted to 150,000 pistoles; and Don Francisco 
ibannez de la Rivia de Herrera, then archbishop of 
Zaragossa, and afterwards of Toledo, and general in- 
quisitor, commanded all the people, ecclesiastical and 
secular^ to go on Sundays, and holy days in the after- 
noon, and carry materials for the work of the week 
following. I went myself many holy days and Sundays, 
and 1 saw his gnice, and ail his famil(Pf^\5th bask^^ts, 
carrying; stones from the river to the open foundations, 



TO POPERY. S3i 

and, by his examiile, gentlemen and ladies, old and 
young, priests and friars, were excited to do the same, 
till the first stone of the foundatioa was laid by his 
grace; dressed in his pontifical; and after that, giv- 
ing his blessing to the building, he recommended tlie 
finishing of it to the peo[)le*s care. They are at work 
ever since every day, and in ±^ years, since the foun- 
dation of the temple, there is yet but the third part 
built up, by 500 workmen constantly at it, and I be- 
lieve that if ever it is finished, it will be double the 
size of St, Paul's church in London. So great and 
blind is the bigotry and devotion of tliat people for the 
virgin of Pilar. 

By these and the like revelations, given out every* 
day by the virgin's chaplain, the people are so much 
infatuated, that they certainly believe there is no sal- 
vation for any soul without the consent of the virgin 
of Pilar, so they never fail to visit her image every 
day, and pay her due homage, for fear that if she is 
angry again, Lucifer should come to reign over them; 
and this is done by the virgin's crafty chaplain, to in- 
crease her treasure and his own too. As to him, I 
may aver, that the late chaplain, Don Pedro Valanzu- 
cla w^as but six years in the virgin's service ; yearly 
rent is 1000 pistoles, and when he died, he left 20,000 
pistoles to the virgin, and 10,000 to his relations; 
now, how he got 30,000 pistoles dear in six years^ 
every body may imagine. 

As to the miracles wrought by this image, I couW 
i)egin to giv^lfen account, but never make an end; anri 
thi^ subject requiring a whole book to itself, I will not 



332 A MASTEIl-KEY 

trouWe tlie reader witli it, hoi>ii!g in God, that if lie is 
pleased to spare iny life some years, I shaft print a 
book of their miracles aiul revelations, that tlie world 
may, by it, know the inconsistent grounds and rea- 
sons of the Romish communion. 

Now% coming again to the adoration of images, 1 
cannot pass by one or two instances more of the image 
of Jesus Christ, adored by the Roman catiiolics* 

The first is that of the crucifix in the monument^ 
both on Thursday and Friday of the holy week. The 
Roman catholics have a custom on holy Thursday, to 
put the conscverated host in the monument, till Friday 
' morning, at eleven o'clock, as I have already said, 
treating of the estation of the holy Calvary. 

Now! will confine myself wholly to the adoration 
paid to the crucifix, and all tlie material instruments 
of our Saviour's passion, by priests, friars, and magis- 
trates. In every parish church and convent of friars^ 
and nuns, the priests form a monument, which is of 
the breadth of the great altar's front, consisting of ten 
or tw^elve steps, that go gradually up to the ara, or al- 
tar's table, on which lies a box, gilt, and adorned with 
jewels, wherein they keep, for twenty-four hours, the 
great host, which the priest that oiRciates has conse- 
crated on Thursday, between eleven and twelve. In 
this monument, you may see as many wax candles as 
parishioners belonging to that church, and which burn 
twenty-four hours continually. At the bottom of the 
monument there is a crucifix laid down on a black vel- 
vet pillow, and two silver dishes on Hitch side. At 
three o'clock in the afternoon, there is a sermon 



TO POPERY. 33S 

preached by the Lejit preachers, whose constant text 
is, Mandatum novum du vobis^ \it diligatis invicemf Si- 
cut dilexi vos. Expressing in it the excessive love of 
huv Saviour towards us. After it, the prelate wash- 
eth the feet of twelve poor people, and all this while 
the people that go from one church to another, to vi» 
sit the monuments, kneel down before the crucifix^ 
kiss its feet, and put a piece of money into one of the 
dishes. The next day, in the morning, there is ano-^ 
tlier sermon, of the passion of our Saviour, wherein 
tlie preacher recommendeth the adoration of the cross 
according to t!ie solemn ceremony of the church. That 
day, 1. e. Good Friday, there is no mass in the Rom- 
ish church, for the liost, which was consecrated the 
day before, is received by the minister, or prelate that 
officiates, and when the passion, is sung, then tlu v he= 
gin the adoration of the crurifix, which is at - 

torn of the monument; which is performed in the loi- 
lowing manner : first of all, the priest that olBciates, 
or the bishop, when he is present, puiihig of his shoes, 
goes and kneels down three times before the crucifix, 
kisseth its teet, and in the sanie manner comes back 
again to his own place. All the prrcsts do the same, 
but without putting any thing into the dish, this being 
only a tribute to be paid by the magistrates and laity. 
This being done by all the magistrates, the priest bid- 
deth them to come at four in the afternoon, to the de- 
scent of Jesus Christ upon the cross, and this is ano- 
ther idolatrous ceremony and adoration. 

The same wucifix that was at *the bottom of the 
monument, is put on the great altar's table, veiled or 



S3i, A MASTER-KEY 

covered with two curtains, and when the people are 
gathered together in the church, the chapter, or com- 
munity conies out of the vestry, and kneeling down 
before the altar, begins, in a doleful manner to sing 
the psalm, Miserere^ and when they come to the verse, 
Tibi solipeccavif &c, they draw the curtains, and shew 
the image of Christ crucified to the people. Then the 
preacher goes up to the pulpit, to preach of the pains 
and afflictions of the virgin Mary, whose image shed- 
ding tears, is placed before the image of her son. I 
once preached myself upon this occasion in the con- 
vent of St. Augustine, in the city of Huesca, and my 
text was, Jinimam meam pertransivit gladiiLS. After 
the preacher has exaggerated the unparalleled pains 
of the virgin Mary, seeing her son suffer death, in so 
ignominious a manner, he orders satellites (so they 
call those that stand with the nails, hammer, and other 
instruments used in the crucifixion) to go up to the 
cross, and take the crown of thorns off the crucifix's 
liead, and then he preacheth on that action, represent- 
ing to the people his sufferings as movingly as possi- 
ble. After tlie satellites have taken the nails out of 
the hands and feet, they bring down the body of Jesus, 
and lay him in a coffin, and when the sermon is over, 
the procession beginneth all in black, which is called 
the burying of Christ. In that procession, which is 
always in the dark of the evening, there are vast num- 
bers of disciplinants that go along with it, whipping 
themselves, and shedding their blood, till the body of 
Jesus is put into the sepulchre. Then e^i^ery body goes 
to adore the sepulchre^ and after the adoration of it, 



TO POPERY. 335 

beginueth the procession of the estatioiis of the holy 
Calvaryj of which I have spoken already in the second 
chapter of this book, 

I will not deprive the public of another superstitious 
ceremony of the Romish priests, which is very divert^ 
ing, and by which their ignorance will be more expos- 
ed to the world ^ and this is practised (ui the Sunday 
before Easter, which is called Dominica Falmarunh in 
which the church commemorateth the triumphant en- 
try of Jes!is Christ into Jerusalem, sitting on an ass, 
the people spreading their clothes and branches of olive 
trees on the grotnid : so, in imitation of this triumph, 
they do the same in some churches and convents. 

The circumstance of one being representative of Je- 
sus, on an ass, I never saw practised in Zaragossa, 
and I was quite unacquainted with it, till I went to 
Alvalate, a town that belongs to the archbisliop in tern- 
poralibus and sjnritualUnis^ w^hither I was obliged to 
retire with his grace in his precipitate flight from king 
Charles's army, for fear of being taken prisoner of 
state. We were there at the Franciscan convent on 
that Sunday, and the archbishop being invited to the 
ceremony of the religious triumph, I went with him to 
see it, which was performed in the following manner. 

All the friars being in the body of the church, the 
guardian placing his grace at the right hand, the pro- 
cession began, every friar having a branch of olive- 
tree in his hand, which was blessed by the rev. father 
guardian; so the cross going before, the procession 
went out of the church to a large yard before it: but, 
O God! what did we see at the door of the churchy 



S36 A MASTER-KEY 

hut a fat friar, dressed as a Nazareen, on a clever ass, 
two friars holding the stirrups, and another pulling 
the ass by the bridle, Tlie representative of Jesus 
Christ took place before the archbishop. The ass was 
a he one, though not so fat as the friar; but the cere- 
mony of throwing branches and clothes before him, 
being quite strange to him, he began to start and ca- 
per, and at last threw down the heavy load of the friar. 
The ass ran away, leaving the reverend on the ground, 
with one arm broken. This unusual ceremony was so 
pleasant to us all, that his grace, notwithstanding his 
deep melancholy, did laugh heartily at it. The ass 
was brought hack, and another friar, making the re- 
presentative, put an end to this ass-like ceremony. 

But the ignorance and superstition heginneth now ; 
when the ceremony was over a novice took the ass by 
the bridle, and began to walk in the cloister, and eve- 
ry friar made a reverence, passing by, and so the 
people kneeling down before hitn, one said, happy 
ass, others, especially the old woman, cried out, O 
burro dc Christo^ ue. O ass of Christ! But his grace 
displeased at so great a superstition, spoke to the 
guardian, and desired him not to suffer his friars to 
give such an example to the ignorant people, as to 
adore the ass. The guardian was a pleasant man, 
and seeing the archbishop so melancholy, to make him 
laugh told his grace that it was impossible to obey 
him, without removing all his friars to another con- 
vent, and bringiiig a new community. Why so ? said 
his grace. Because, replied the guardian, all my fri- 
ars are asses. And you the guardian of them, an- 
swered his grace. 



TO POPERY. 337 

Thus priests and friars excite the people, not only 
to adore the image of Jesus Christ, but irrational crea- 
tures too ; nay, the very insensible, though vegetable 
things. They give out, that the nails of the feet of 
Christ's image of Calatrao grow every week, and the 
clerk of the chapel keeps a box full of them, to give 
the parings to the people, as a great relic, which they 
kiss and adore as if they were little gods, and I kept 
myself, when I was young, a piece of those nails set in 
gold, hanging night and day on my neck. So great is the 
stupidity of the people, and so great the ignorance of 
the priests and friars, or rather their craftiness and 
covetousness, for I cannot believe they credit theni- 
selv^es tlie stories which they give out. 

There is anotlier image of the virgin Mary, called 
la Aurora, i. e. the morning day break, in the convent 
of Franciscan friars, called Jesus of the bridge, because 
it is near the wooden bridge of the city. This image 
was in great veneration some years ago, and the lay- 
brethren of that convent were very much respected by 
all the people of that city, because they had i2:iven out 
that there vv^as always one lay-brother in that convent 
so godly that he was in high esteem and favour with 
the virgin de la Aurora, but unhappily for that image, 
for the convent, and for the lay-brethren of it ; for one 
of tlicm, who was clerk of the chapel of the virgin, 
gave out in the city, that on her festival day, which 
was the Tuesday after Easter, the image was to dance 
with him after evening songs were over. This uncom- 
mon miracle excited the curiosity of almost all the in- 
habitants of the city to meet there at the fixed day^ 
Ff 



338 A MASTER-KEY 

but the crafty friars knowing that the twentieth part 
of the people could not see it, upon second thoughtS5 
spread in the city that the miracle was to be continu- 
ed for eight days, or, as they say, all t!ie days of the 
Octava of the virgin. So the first and second days 
were appointed for the noblemen and ladies, and the 
rest for tradesmen and common people. 

When the day was come, and the evening songs were 
over, the image of the virgin was in the middle of the 
altar of her chapel, in a small gilt chapel, richly dres- 
sed, and all the altar round about full of wax-candles: 
before the altar a scaffold was set up for the music, and 
for the lay-brotlier, so when the church was full of peo- 
ple, the father guardian made the signal to the brother 
to begin to dance lasfolias^ i. e. the follies, with Cas- 
tannetes, or cracking of the fingers. The friar danc- 
ed a long while without being accompanied by the im- 
age: the people l>egan to say that the lay-brother was 
a cheat, which being heard by him, he fell down upon 
his knees, and began to cry bitterly, and say to the 
image in an innocent style; hear, young Madona, do 
not make me pass for a cheat ; you know very well 
what you promised me one nignt, when lAvas combing 
the wig that my cousin gave you : hear, do you re- 
member ? Ynwsay nothing? Then, by this holy cross, 
you shall pay for it. Now I will ask you to be as good 
as your word, twice more, and if you will expose me 
to be laughed at, by the people here present, by my 
faith, I will swear that you are the cheat, and every 
body will believe me, and none for the future will care 
for you. what joy was it to the finar, and the peo- 



TO POPERY. 339 

pie, to see the image make a reverence to the brother! 
Now, said he, you are an honest woman, come let us 
(lance the folias, and let every one here present know 
that you perform whatever you promise. The image 
really began to turn round about, for the space of three 
minutes. A reverend silence was kept in the church, 
all were surprised to see so a wonderful a miracle, and 
nobody dared to say a word, but the good brother, who, 
when the image ceased from her motions, turning ta . 
the people, said. Now you see the great esteem this 
image hath for me, and because I love the inhabitants 
of Zaragossa, as my own life, I will ask a favour fii'om 
my image for them ^ wliich, if she refuse, I have done 
with her, there are the keys of her treasure, and let 
Iier hire another servant, for I am sure nobody can be 
so faithful as I have been to her. Ay, she will think 
on it before she loses me ! Now the favour that I beg 
of you, (turning to the image) for my fellow-citizens of 
Zaragossa is, that you will take the name of every one 
that comes, and offers you the charity of one mass on- 
ly, for I would not have them pay too dear for tiiis fa- 
vour, and enter it in the book of eternal life. My old 
country friends, do not think this to be a small favour, 
for with it you may give a fig for the devil, and laugh 
at him. Now let me see what answer she gives me. 
Will you grant them this favour? Then the image lift- 
ed up, and bowed dow n its head ; at which signal tha 
people cried out, " Viva^ viva la virgin de la AuroraJ^ 
Let the virgin of the morning live : or lang live tiie 
virgin of Aurora. This miracle was immediately di- 
vulged through the whole city, and for the six follow r 



340 A MASTER-KEY 

ing days the church was crowded with people from 
morning till the dance of folias was ended: but the 
inquisitors finding the thing something odd, they sent 
the secretary to the convent at midnight, with orders 
to take up the lay -brother, and search the image ; 
whicli being done accordingly, he found an instrument 
to move the image with, which came down under the 
altar's table, where another lay- brother turned the in- 
strument : so the cheat was found out, but too late, 
for in the six days the image harlequin danced, the fri- 
ars got four thousand pieces of eight for masses, as 
the father guardian of the convent owned to the inqui- 
sitors^, and all that was inflicted on the two lay-bro- 
thers, for this crime, was to send them into another 
convent in the country. The convent lost a great deal 
by this discovery, for the people never went near it 
since, and the community that was formerly composed 
of a iiundred friars, is now reduced to thirty in alL 
This dance of the Spanish follies, or the follies of that 
dance (for one made many fools witli it) happened in 
1705, of which I was an eye-witness, for I went twice 
to see the wonder ,of wonders, as the friars used to 
call it. 

The adoration of St. Mames in the parish church 
of St. Mary Magdalene, is another instance of the 
priests' superstition or covetousness. The priests of 
the parish with the minister. Doctor Parras, seeing 
that their church was not haunted as many others, for 
want of a new miraculous saint, pretended they found 
in a rock, the corpse of St. Mames, who was a shep- 
herd, and so making a gilt box, they put this saiiit> 



TO i^OPERY. 341 

rfresscd like a sJirpherd, into it, w itb a i)astoral hook, 
and many lambs and sheej) made of silver : the box 
was placed on the altar's table under the feet of a cru- 
cifix, and they exhorted every one to worship and 
adore him, celebrating lus singular virtues with an 
Octava, or eight days of festival, and eight panegyric 
sermons. This invention was in 1709, and I was tH 
first year the seventh preacher in his Octava. The 
novelty of a new saint brought all the people of the ci- 
ty, and many of the country to adore him. Music, iU 
luminations, ringing of bells, and public processions,, 
were in the most solemn and magnificent manner ob- 
served, and performed during eight days, in which 
many miracles were published as tokens of St. Mames's 
power, and the affection he had for tlie people. I was, 
as well as tlie other preachers, \ery much emharassed^ 
having no history, nor public account of t!ie new saint's 
life; but at last we found a new way to satisfy the 
priests of tlie parisli, and to extol the virtues of their 
saints ; for we cigijt preachers, among ourselves, 
agreed to take for our text, every one of us, the Athe- 
nians' motto : Ignoto Deo, and to alter it for the divisi^ 
on of the heads, thus : Ignoto Pastori, and to imitate 
St. Paul, who persuaded the Athenians that the un« 
known God by them was the very God ; and persuad- 
ed the people, that the unknown shepherd of St. Mames, 
whom we began to adore, was the very sliepherd, who 
was to take care of his chosen flock in Zaragossa. So 
upon this foundation, every one endeavoured to pub- 
lish the encomiums of the new saint, which were all 
fictions out of our heads. These »ermons were very 

B {2 



6*2 AMASTER.KEY 

much praised by doctor Parras, minister of the parish> 
and by all his priests, and being printed afterwards 
by the heirs of Pedro Dormer, every body bought 
them, in order to be acquainted by them, with the un- 
known shepherd St. Mames. All the while I was 
tliere after, I observed all sorts and conditions of peo- 
ple going to worsiiip and adore the corner of the box 
of the saint, and when I left Zaragossa, the church 
and chapel was very much improved by the miracles 
wrought daily by St. Mamcs. 

But the bigotry of priests and friars is so great, 
that they are not satisfied with adoring and worship- 
ping images of saints, and their relics, but they make 
the very beasts to worship them also ; this will appear 
by the daily custom they have on St. Martin's day. 
They publish, and the people believe, what is written 
in the life of St. Antonio Abbot, viz. that he was an 
advocate for the cattle with God, and therefore, in the 
church of St, Martin, in Zaragossa, his image is in the 
midilleof the great altar, with a pig at his feet: for 
the history says that he cured many pigs. In memo- 
ry then, and veneration of this saint (whom we may 
call the saint of tlie beasts) the magistrates of the city 
assist at the great mass, and the sermon preached oa 
his festival day, and every body recommer^ds his beasts 
to him, and puts them under his care and protection, 
and they have not only this faith, but they give a pub- 
lic testimony of it; for that day, in the morning and 
in tlie afternoon, every one, from the archbishop to 
the rarrier> sends his horses, mules, asses and pigs, to 
make three turns i^ound about the church of St. Mar- 



TO POPEHY. 3ia 

tin : tile coachmen and servants endeavour to dress 
the beasts with the best mantles, collars of small bells^ 
and th<^. necks and tails full of such ribbons as they can 
get ; so when they have finished the third turn, they 
stop before the church-door, and make a sort of a bow^ 
and the clerk of the church, who is a priest, gives them 
the blessing, and a bit of blessed bread. Every beast 
is to pay to Jus advocate half a real of plate, which 
is very much, every year, and not only the beasts or 
cattle of the city pay that tribute, but all, or al- 
most all the cattle of the country, except the sheep* 
for 20 sheep pay only the sum aforesaid. There are 
four priests belonging to that church, which are call- 
ed Commissarios de Bestias de SL Antonio Mad, Com- 
missaries of St. Anthony's beasts^ and after his festi- 
Tal, they take their circuits through the whole king- 
dom J they do not preach, but in every town they go 
through all the inhabitants of it bring their cattle and 
sheep into a large field, a \A the priest of the circuit 
gives them St. Antonio^s blessing, and receives the tri- 
bute ; afterwards he blesseth the waters, grass, earthy 
and the very straw the people keep to feed their cattlej^ 
so if a mu!e or horse is sick, they pray to St. Antonio 
and many go to the priest and desire him to say mass 
for the beast, that it may by the help of it, recover its 
health. The four ignorant priests tell such stories of 
St. Antonio and his pig to the country people and idi- 
ots, that man^ poor silly women, thinking themselves 
unworthy to approach near, or pray to the glorious 
saint himself, pray before the pig, make their requests 
to it, and generously give it ribbons and trinkets, that 



34^ ^ A MASTER-KEY 

by its intercession, their be^isrs and tiiemKetves may be 
preserved IVom all evil a?i ? nuschiei in all tiioes ot 
their tribulation, in tiie Uoav of death, and iii t!ic day~ 
of judgment. These are their practices, their corrup- 
tions, and tlieir abominatioiis before the Lord, 

But because this article of images, and the next of 
r^Ucs, contribute very much to the discovery of the 
idolatries, and of the bigotries and superstitions of all 
those of that conimunion, I shall not leave this sub- 
ject^ vvithoiit giving an account of some remarkable 
images which are worshipped and adoi^edby tbem all. 

They have innumerable images of Christ? the vir- 
^'in Maiy^ the angels and saints in the streets, in 
small chapels built within the thickness of the walls, 
and most commonly in the corners of the streets, which 
tlie people adore, kneel down before, arid make pray- 
ers and supplications to. They say, that many of those 
images have spoke to some devout persons, as that of 
St Philip Nery did to a certain ambitious priest, who, 
walking through the street where the image was; was 
talking within himself, and saying. Now I am a 
priest, next year I hope to be dean, after bishop, then 
cardinal, and after all Siiniimts Pontifex^ to which so- 
liloquy the image of St. Philip answered, " And after 
all those honors comes death, and after death, hell and 
damnation for ever.'^ The priest being surprised at 
tliis answer, so much apropos, and looking up and 
down, he saw the mouth of the image open, by which 
jhe concluded 111 at the image had given him the answer, 
and so, taking a firm resolution to leave all the 
thoughts of this deceitful world, with his own money 



TO POPERY. 345 

he purcbased the house where thei image was, and 
built a decent chapel in honour of 'st. Philip, which 
now, by the gifts of pious people, is so much enlarg- 
ed, that we reckon St. Philip's church and parish to 
be the third in the city for riches, and the number of 
beneficiate priests being forty-six, besides the rector. 

In St. Philip's church there is a miraculous cruci- 
fix, called El santa Cliristo delas ])eridas : the holy 
Christ of child-bed women ; which is very much fre- 
quented by all people, but chiefly by the ladies, who 
go there to be churclied, and leave the pi rification of- 
ferings mentioned in the ceremonial law of Moses. 
And as there is this image, which is an advocate of 
women delivered of child, there are also two images, 
who are advocates of barren won c - iueof the virgin 
in the convent of Recolet mars < f St, Augustine, and 
another of St. Antonio de Paula : the first is called the 
virgin of the barren women ; the second, the interces- 
sor of the barren ladies. This second image is in the 
convent of Victorian friars, and is kept in a gilt box, 
in a chapel within the cloister, and the door is always 
locked up, and the key kept by the father corrector> 
i. e. the superior of the convent. 

These two images, or rather the stewards of them, 
work undeniable miracles every year, for no barren 
woman goes to pray and adore these images, without 
coming home with child, for they are so sure by faith, 
or action, that they give out, and make the poor hus- 
bands believe, that they find themselves very much al- 
tered, &c. So if the Victorian friars publish one or 
two nuracles one week, the Ilecolcts publish three or 



346 A MASTER-KEY 

four the week following, and so tliey make good the 
physician's saying, that there is no such thing as bar- 
renness where there are such images, and that exitus 
acta probatf Sfc, For no woman, who goes to make 
three turns round the box of St. Antonio de Paula, or 
adore the girdle of the virgin, is barren afterwards. 
But the Victorians get more i)rofit by it than the Re- 
Golets ; for all the ladies that are, or pretended to be 
barren, go to St. Antonio, and the common people to 
the Recolets. The truth is, that the Victorians are 
well dressed, and most commonly, handsome fellows, 
merry, and fit for company, polite, and great game- 
sters, which are good qualifications to please intrigu- 
ing women. 

Another instance of their ignorant practices is, their 
idolatrous adoration of the virgin Mary in bed, on her 
asceuvsion-day, the fifteenth of August. All the ladies 
of the parish join all their jewels and ribbons, on the 
fourteenth of that montli, and go to church in the af- 
ternoon, where the parish minister, with his clergy, 
or the prior of tlie convent with his friars, are waiting 
for them ; then the ladies, to take a refreshment (or, 
as they call it, the collation of the virgin) go all toge- 
ther to the vestry, or to a private room for visits, and 
all are very merry for an hour or two: then the supe- 
rior chooses one of the richest ladies for waiting lady 
to the blessed Mary, and six assistants under her, wiio 
must be unmarried young ladies, and this honourable 
employment is for one year. The waiting-lady and 
her assistants are to dress the virgin, and order the 
bed witli ^reat nicety, and assist every day, morning 



TO rOPEllY. 347 

and evening, during the eight days of the festival at 
church, and pay for a splendid dinner the eight days 
for the clergy, or community, and they are ohliiyed to 
serve at the table, as an act of humility^ So, when 
every thing is settled between them and the superior, 
they go into t!?e cluirch, and every thing being ready, 
they set up the bed, which is made very neat, and with 
curtains of the best brocade; the image of the virgin, 
in a clean fine shift, is laid down on the bed by the 
waiting lady and her assistants, and covered with a 
quilt, which is vQvy richly laced round about. The 
bed is under a canopy, and twenty -four large thick 
wax candles are burning round it. When all is in 
order, the evening songs begin, and after them every 
priest or friar, and the people after them, draw near 
the bed, kneel down, say a prayer, and kiss one of the 
virgin's hands with great devotion. The next day is 
the great festival, w^hich is celebrated w4th music, 
high mass, a sermon, evening songs, and a general 
procession through the streets. After which the same 
religious ceremony, of praying and kissing her hand, 
is devoutly repeated by the clergy and laity ; and 
these public demonstrations of zeal and devotion, ex- 
cept the procession, are continued every day during 
the octava. 

Another practice like this, of praying worship and 
adoration to the virgin mother, and her child Jesus in 
a manger, is observed on Christmas, and eight days 
after ; but especially the nuns do signalize themselves 
on this festival, and that on which Jesus was lost and 
found again in the temple j for they hide the child in 



3i8 A MASTER-KEY 

some secret place under the altar's table, and after 
evening songs they run up and down tiirough the gar- 
den, cloisters, and church, to see whether they can find 
the innocent child, and the nun that finds him out, is 
excused, for that year, from all the painful offices of 
the convent, but she is to give, for tliree days together, 
a good dinner to all the nuns and fatlier confessor ; and 
that year she may go to the grate at any time, with- 
out any leave or fear, for she doth not assist at the 
public service of prayers : in short, she has liberty of 
conscience that year, for finding the lost child, and she 
is often lost too at the end of the year, by following a 
licentious sort of life. 

These are, in some measure, voluntary devotions 
and adorations, but there are many others by precept 
of the church, and ordinances of several popes, who 
have granted proper services to several images, with 
which priests and friars serve and adore them, or else 
they commit a mortal sin, as well as if they neglected 
the divine and ecclesiastical service, and the due ob- 
servance of the ten commandments of the law of God. 
I will give a few instances of these adorations by pre- 
cept, and wdth them 1 shall dismiss this present arti- 
cle. 

There are, in the church of Rome, proper services 
granted by the popes for the invention or finding out 
of the cross, and ;for the exaltation of it, and every 
priest, friar and nun, is obliged, in conscience, to say 
these services in honor of the cross^ and after the great 
mass they adore the cross, and this is properly adora- 
tion, for they say in the iiymn, Let us coine imd adore 



TO POPERY, 3 iy 

i7ie holy cross^ ^c. and the people say Ihe same after 
them. They carry the cross on the 3d of May, and 
6n the great Litany days, in a solemn procession, to 
some high place out of the town, and after the officiat- 
ing priest has lifted up the cross towards the south, 
north, west, and east, hlessing the four parts of the 
world, and singing the Litany, the procession comes 
back to the church. These festivals are celebrated 
with more devotion and veneration, as to the outward 
appearance, than pomp and magnificence, except in 
the churches dedicated to the holy cross, where this 
being the titular festival, is constantly performed with 
all manner of ceremonies, as the days of the first class. 
Again, Thex'c is another superstitious (though pro- 
fitable to the clergy) ceremony in their church, which 
they call the adoration of the peace of God, for which 
purpose they keep in every church two flat pieces of 
silver, like a smoothing-iron, with a handle whereon 
are engraved the figure of the cross, and the images 
of the apostles Peter and Paul j so in the great mass, 
when the priest comes to break the consecrated host, 
and puts the small part within the chalice, and says. 
Fax Domini sit semjyer vobiscum: that is. The peace 
of the Lord be always with you; and this he says, mak- 
ing the sign of the cross on the chalice, then the dea- 
con gives him the silver piece, which he kisses, and 
the deacon doing the same, gives it to the subdeacon, 
and so it goes round to the incenser, and one of the 
acoliti, i. e. those that carry the two candlesticks. The 
other acolitus, who hath the second piece, comes to 
join both pieces together, and having a silken towel 

G g 



350 A MASTER-KEY 

on his ueck, lie goes to give the piece to the magistrates 
all on their knees, and to the rest of the people, and 
every hody gives the peace offering in money, Avhich 
is for the priest that officiates. Cut the greatest offer- 
ing to the cross, of money and eatable tilings, is on the 
Sunday next before Easter. That day priests and fri- 
ars bless the palms, or olive branches, and make of 
them small crosses, which, as they make the people 
1)elieve, are the best relics against thunder and light- 
ning : so the people, willing to have so great a safe- 
guard, together with the blessed branch of olive-tree, 
go to church, and, especially the children, carry ano- 
ther branch furnished with sweet-meats, tied up with 
all sorts of ribbons, and some pieces of silver too ; and 
when they receive the blessed branch and the cross 
from the hand of the priest, after the benediction is 
over, they leave the rich branch; so in some parisli 
churches the minister gets by it, eatable things, rib- 
bons, money, and wood for firing for a whole year ; 
and the people think themselves very happy and safer 
for that year with the small blessed cross : but for all 
that, many are killed every summer by flashes of 
lightning. 

There are proper services granted to the virgin Ma- 
ry, under the following names : The virgin of the rose 
of St. Dominic, of the girdle of St. Augustine, or the 
rope of St. Francis, and of the scapulary of mount 
Carmel. All these distinguishing signs of the virgin: 
Mary, are celebrated by the church and fraternities ofl 
devout people, and adored by all christians, being all! 
images and relics to be worshipped by the special com- 



TO POPERY. 351 

i6aiul of the pope: of which precepts I will speak 
shortly, at the end of this book, if there be room for it. 
Now, by what has been said, where can we find ex- 
pressions fit to explain the wickedness of the Romish 
priests, the ignorance of the people, committed to 
their charge, and the idolatrous, nonsensical, ridiculous 
ceremonies, with which they serve, not God, but saints, 
giving them more tribute of adoration, than to the x'VI- 
mighty ? 1 must own, that the poor people who are 
easily persuaded of every thing, are not to be blamed, 
but only the covetous, barbarous clergy; for these 
(though many of them are very blind) are not to bo 
supposed ignorant of what sins they commit, and 
advise the people to commit : so, acting against the 
dictates of their own consciences, they, I believe, must 
answer for their ill-guided flock, before the tribunal of 
the living God. 

ARTICLE m. 

Of their relics^ and Iheir trust in thent. 

The council of Trent laid a curse on all those that 
should not give the honor due to the saints, their se- 
pulchres and relics ; but priests' and friars, as divine 
expositors of the council, explain the word honor to 
be godly worshipping and adoration ; and this is to set 
the greater value on the relics, and get more riches by 
them: and though the same council commanded not 
to receive a new relic, without the consent of the bi- 
shop of the diocess, they do not mind councils in mat- 
ters of self-interest, and they make every day, as they 
have occasion for them, new relics of the bones of a 



SB2 A MASTER-KEY 

dead horse or dog, &c. as we shall see by and by : so, 
it will likewise appear, that all the relics are only a 
colour and pretence for priests and friars to get mo- 
ney. 

As to the famous celebrated virgin of Pilar, the 
gi^^atest relic is to have none, by w^hich they preserve 
the admiration of the people, for tlie holy image, made 
of heavenly matter, which was never touched till this 
day : but they give, as I have said already, for relics, 
the dust, and small bits of the stones tlicy took from 
tUc wall, when they made a hole to shew through \t9 
ilie lioly pillar, on which the image stands. But here 
we must observe, tiiat the hole being no bigger than 
the circumference of a small plate, .and being made 
those IfjOO years and more, all which lime they have 
been bestowing relics of the dust and stones to every 
good benef^ictor, it is a wonder that the stock of tlie 
virgin\s chaplain is not exhausted : but the people 
are not surprised at it, for the chaplain gives out, and 
it is printed in her book, that the dust and stones are 
always kept up in the same quantity by a miracle, and 
tliat the image will continue this miracle, for the com- 
fort of all christians to the end of the world ; and that 
then the same angels that brought the image from 
heaven, sliall come to take it up again ; for no hea- 
venly thing can be exposed to the final conflagration. 

Besides those sorts of relics, the popes have grant- 
ed free and full indulgence, and pardon of sins, to all 
those that should have either a rosary or medal touched 
by the image of Pilar, and such an indulgence serves 
once in the lift of the person that keeps one of those 



TO POPERY- SbS 

relics, and once more at the point of death; so the 
cliaplain lias business enough every day, for there is 
not one living peison in all Spain, I verily believe, that 
has not a relic of tiiis sort, for the chaplain receives a 
voluntary gift for the trouble of touching the medal or 
beads, or any other thing with the image, so that he 
makes relics of every thing. But, as to the rich peo- 
ple, the chaplain useth them with more respect, in order 
to get the more from them ; for he gives them a piece 
of an old mantle of the virgin, I mean of one that has 
been once on the image; and such a piece is esteemed 
highly by the rich, as a thing that has touched the 
image a long time. And when any of the rich people 
are sick, they send for a wliole mantle, to put it on the 
bed, and if the sick recovers, it is thought tiiat it is a 
miracle wrought by the mantle ; and they pay a pis- 
tole for every day they keep the mantle in the house. 
As to the lignum crucis, or the wood of the cross, 
on wlsich our Saviour suffered deatii, I suppose every 
body knovvs the conurjon oj)inion of the Romans, vvhich 
is, that it groweth every year; so no wonder if there 
is so great a quantity of it in tlie world ; and I am sure, 
if all ti\Q bits and relics of the holy wood could be ga- 
thered together in one place, there would be firing 
enough for a wli )le year, for a great many families ; 
but this is so w^li known by all people, that I need say 
no more of it ; and I shall treat only of the relics that 
I saw myself, or read of in the book called Flos SanC' 
ioriim : where a historical account is given of the lives 
and relics of saints, and of the miracles wrought by 

them. 

O g 2 



354 A MASTER-KEY 

In the cailiedral church of St. Salvator, the chapter 
keeps, with great veneration, the bodies of St. Peter 
Argues, and St. Dominguito. The first was born in 
a town called Epila, distant twenty-one miles from 
Zaragossa, and by his learning was promoted to one of 
the prebends of tlie cathedral, and was murdered with- 
in the church, after matins, or midnight songs, as he 
was going to the vestry. This sacrilegious murder 
was tiie occasion of a long interdictum : for some said 
it was committed by order from the governor of the 
city, for jealousy ; for tlie said saint was at that time 
confessor of iiis lady, and more tiian confessor too, as 
malicious people said. The reputation of the whole 
chapter being lessened and stained by this accident, 
tlie prebends gave out, that Peter Argues was a pious 
godly minister of Jesus Christ, and that he was mur- 
dered by some infidels, tiiat were incognito in the ci- 
ty, and that he had wrought many miracles after his 
deaths as appeared by the certificates from persons 
healed by his influence in heaven. The chapter found 
great opposition among the nobility, and to stop at 
onre the mouths of the people, they resolved to send 
one of the prebendaries to Rome, to solicit the canon- 
ization of St. Peter Argues, and gave 100,000 crowns 
to the pope, wliich is the sum settled by his holiness 
for the making of a saint; which was accordingly 
done, and the bi'ief of his canonization being come to 
the chapter, and with it a bridle for malicious and 
blasphemous tongues; the chapter, all the rlfi'^^y, se- 
cular and regular, and the whole city, celebrated the 
first festival of their new saint. His body having beei^ 



TO POPERY. S55 

embalmed and preserved, was shewn to the people. 
Many earnestly begged some relic, but the body being 
whole, the thing could not be granted: but many bi- 
gots went to scratch the ground on which the saint 
was murdered, and kept the dust for a great relic. 
The town of Epila contributed for the building of a 
magnificent chapel to the saint, and the chapter built 
a noble monument for his body. The silver box where- 
in the body is kept, is placed under the altar ; there 
are three keys, one is kept by the dean, another by the 
archbishop, and the third by the viceroy, and nobody 
can see the gloriqus body without the concurrence of 
the three key-keepers ; and though I was tliree years 
and some months in ecclesiastical duty in tlie cathe- 
dral, I could not have the satisfaction of seeing the 
body of our Concolega, as the chapter calls him : and 
L presume there must be something extraordinary in 
the case, for all relics and bodies of canonized persons 
are generally shewn to the people; but, to satisfy the 
public, there is behind the altar, a statue of the saint 
made of marble, and the people used to take three 
turns round the altar, and kiss the pole of the statue's 
neck, and kneeling before the altar, they pray, by 
faith, to the uncorrupted body of the glorious martyr, 
St. Peter Argues. 

As to St. Dominguito, he was a singing boy of the 
cathedral, and his whole life was full of wonders, in 
working miracles ; so, after his death, he was beatifi- 
ed, and after canonized ; but this saint is not much in 
veneration, and he has only a private festival, solem- 
nized only by the singing boys of the church. His 



350 A MASTEIMvEY 

body, as they say, is still iincorruptcd, and I sajvjl, 
thioug]» the J2;lass of his box, several tiiues. 

In the parish church of St. Laurence, the benefici- 
ates have in great veneration the headof that martyr, 
who, as the history of his life reports, was born in the 
city of Huesca, distant SG miles from Zaragossa, and 
afterwards suffered martyrdom at Rome. How many 
bodies St. Laurence had 1 do not know, for (though it 
is certain he had but one body and one head) there 
are two whole bodies of the same saint, one at Rome, 
and another at Huesca, and seven heads in the city of 
Zaragossa : he is called the courteous and civil Span- 
iard, because, when St. Vincent (wlio was also a Span- 
iard, born in the city of Valencia) suffered mai*ty rdom 
at Rome, many years after St. Laurence, a^ he had 
been a great devoto of St. Laurence, his body being 
ordered to he put in the same sepulchre and coffin with 
St. Laurence's, as the people were going to put it at 
the left hand, St. Laurence's body moved to the left, 
and left the right to St. Vincent, which was a piece of 
great civility and good manners ; therefore, ever since, 
he has been called El cortes Espanoh To the honor 
of this saint, a magnificent church was built,, and de- 
dicated to his name at Rome, extra muros^ or without 
the wall ; which at tliis time is called St. Laurence ex^ 
tra muros: his body is kept there with great venera- 
tion, and many indulgences are granted to those that 
visit that church, as may be seen in the pope's yearly 
.>bull : and because this saint suffered death in so cruel 
a manner, as to have his body roasted on an iron grate, 
and when one side was roasted, he said to the tyrant,^ 



TO POPERY. 337 

Come eat of this side^for it is ready roasted ; therefore, 
as he underwent the flames of fire on earth, tlie popes 
granted a privilege to his cliiirrh, that all those that 
go to visit his sepulclire, may take a soul out of pur- 
gatory, and redeem it from the tormenting flames of 
that dreadful phice. There is one whole hody of his 
at Rome, as the history of his life, and the Martyro- 
logium of that church testify. 

St. Polonia is the patroness of all those that have 
the tooth-ache, and thei'e is not one church nor con- 
vent without a tooth of this saint ; so that if all her 
teeth were gathered togclher, 1 believe they would 
make half a million. 

I could give so manr otiier instances of the multi- 
plicity of legs, teeth, arms, &c. of one and the same 
saint in diflTerent places, that the reader must needs 
he surprised, unless I give him an account of the cus- 
tom the popes liave in making all sorts of relics of 
whatever saint they please. 

When a church, convent, &c. l)e^*s of Ijis holiness a 
relic of any saint, and it cannot be found, or is alrea- 
dy granted to some otlier church, he sends for a head, 
or an arm, to some church-yard, and baptizes it with 
tlie name of the desired saint j as v/e see it in the mul- 
tiplicity of St. Lawrence's heads, and many others, 
which are well known among the Roman catholics, 
and which were baptized by the pope, to please only 
the petitioners. It is reported, and attested in the 
life of St. Lucia, that refusing to satisfy the brutal 
desire of the tyrant, he commanded her eyes to be 
plucked out, and so she died j and therefore all bliiid 



$58 A MASTER-KEY 

people in a body, or frateniity, Rcknowledge her for 
their patroness. In the convent of the nuns, called St. 
Bernardo's ladies, there are to be seen the two eyes of 
this saint, and in almost every parish church and con- 
vent there is the same relic kept, not only to comfort 
.the blind, but to blind others too, wlio want no such 
comfort. 

I might have said much more upon each of these ar- 
ticles, and there are some others I have not yet tf)uch- 
€d on : but for all these things, I shall refer the read- 
er to another book, which I intend to write on this 
subject (as I before hinted) if my poor endeavours, in 
this one, be so fortunate as to please the public, and if 
they do not, as I have too much reason to fear, I have 
said more than enough already : so I conclude all, 
beseeching the supreme disposer of all things, to grant 
that all who take this piece into their hands, may 
read it with as much candour and piety, as I have 
written it with siivcerity, truth, and a desire of doing 
them good ; that those of this nation, who as yet lie 
blinded with Romish errors, may see the great differ- 
ence between popery discountenanced in Ireland, 
and triumphant in Spain, and know wliat imperious 
lords they would soon find their humble priests me- 
tamorphosed into, if they should ever be so unhappy 
as to have this kingdom in the condition they wish it; 
and lastly, that all among us, that are already en- 
lightened with the truth, may seriously ponder with 
themselves the extraordinary blessings they enjoy 
above their neighbouring countries, and piously ac- 
knowledge, with he prophet, ^^ that their lines are fal- 



TO POPERY. 359 

len to them in pleasant places/' Here none are afraid 
of being hurried out of their houses to loathsome dun- 
geons and horrible death, witliout any reason given to 
themselves, or any body else : here gentlemen are un- 
der no uneasy apprehensions of having the sanctity 
of their nuptuai beds violated by the secret intrigues, 
or their chihlren reduced to poverty, by the rapacious 
avarice of profligate men : here the innocent virgins 
may contentedly enjoy themselves, without fear of be^ 
ing drawn, by the sanctified out-side of debauched hy- 
pocrites, into dishonor in this world, and endless mi- 
sery in the next : and what is the crown of all, the gos- 
pel, that fountain of living waters, is open to all that 
please to com^ and drink, and our divine religion 
clearly explained to the meanest capacity, and the 
truth of it evidently demonstrated by the greatest ge- 
nius the world has ever seen : and all these blessings, 
supported by a prince, and defended by an army that 
thoroughly understand the value of those liberties, and 
the excellency of that religion they protect ; for, sure- 
ly, if, in despite of all these mercies, we plot our own 
destruction, and force our way to hell, through all the 
bars God has set in our passage, our punishments in 
the next world will be as much superior to those of 
other nations, as the Almighty's care has been to pre- 
vent our ever suffering any. 



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